Plural in compound nouns

1. As a rule in compounds it is the second component that takes the plural form:

housewives, tooth-brushes, boy-scouts, maid-servants.

2. Compounds in -ful have the plural ending at the end of the word:

handfuls, spoonfuls, mouthfuls, (though spoonsful and mouthsful are also possible).

3. Compounds in which the first component is man or woman have plurals in both first and last components:

men-servants, women-doctors, gentlemen-farmers.

4. Compounds ending in -man change it into -men in spelling. In pronunciation, however, there is no difference between the singular and plural forms, both having [ǝ]:

policeman [ǝn] - policemen [ǝn].

Such nouns as German, Roman, Norman are not compounds, and therefore they have regular plurals:

Germans, Romans, Normans.

5. In compounds originating from a prepositional noun phrase where the preposition is a linking element only the first noun takes the plural form:

editors-in-chief, mothers-in-law, commanders-in-chief, coats-of-mail, men-of-war.

6. In compounds with a conjunction as a linking element the plural is taken by the second noun:

gin-and-tonics.

7. In compound nouns formed by a noun plus a preposition, or an adverb, or an adjective only the first element takes the plural:

passers-by, lookers-on, courts-martial, attorneys-general.

8. When the compound is a substantivized phrase which does not contain a noun, the last element takes the plural ending –s:

forget-me-nots, breakdowns, stand-bys, grown-ups, close-ups, pick-ups, drop-outs, go-betweens.

Exercises

1. Write the correct form of the noun in parentheses.

1. I met some interesting _______ at the meeting last night. (man)

2. I need some ______ to light the fire. (match)

3. The baby got two new _______. (tooth)

4. The farmer loaded his cart with ______ of fresh vegetables to take to market. His cart was pulled by two ______. (box, ox)

5. Alex saw some ______running across the floor. (mouse)

6. The north side of the island has no _____. There are only steep _____. No one can climb these steep walks of rock. (beach, cliff)

7. If a houseplant is given too much water, its lower _____ turn yellow. (leaf)

8. Before Marie signed the contract, she talked to two _________. (attorney)

9. New scientific ________ are made every day in _______ throughout the world. (discovery, laboratory)

10. I caught several ______ in the lake. (fish)

11. On our trip in the mountainous countryside, we saw some ______, ______, ______, and wild ______. (wolf, fox, deer, sheep)

12. When we spoke in the cave, we could hear ______ of our voices. (echo)

13. The music building at the university has 27 ________. Students need to sign up for practice times. (piano)

14. Thunder and lightning are ______ of nature. (phenomenon)

15. People get most of their news about the world through the mass ______, that is, through radio, television, the Internet, newspapers, and magazines. (medium)

2. Make the nouns in brackets plural:

1. The (knife) get rusty when you put them into the water for a long time.

2. The (muff) of their new coats are rather lovely.

3. The (roof) of the houses look neat and nice.

4. In autumn all the (leaf) fall down.

5. They invited two (soprano) to our Opera House.

6. Young artists want to have their own (studio).

7. (Zoo) are popular all over the world.

8. Tom’s body is all covered with (tattoo).

9. We prepared new (memo) for our office.

10. Jack bought three new (piano) for his casino.

11. There are ten (radio) in the box.

12. Larry showed us a lot of (photo).

13. They said they needed two new (video) for their cinema theatre.

14. Look, there are five (cuckoo) in this cage.

3. Give the plural of the following nouns if they have it:

Weather, chalk, house, child, mouse, cucumber, knife, boot, furniture, sheep, plum, deer, country, information, advice, salmon, news, trout, armchair,

means, belief, loaf, zero, tornado, theses, jewellery, fly, donkey, key, day, city, monkey, toy, lady, play, army, boy, spy, cry, sky, dragonfly, butterfly, kerchief, wife, chief, life, leaf, proof, thief, calf, half, shelf, wolf, loaf.

4. Give the singular of the following nouns if they have it:

Armchairs, gymnastics, clothes, spectacles, photos, shorts, cows, schools, pyjamas, enemies, kisses, wives, loaves, cliffs, oxen, men, teeth, grapes, girls, series, riches, people, persons, athletics, news.

5. Choose the noun in brackets to complete each sentence:

1. Hail, thunder, lightning and rain are natural (phenomenon, phenomena).

2. The Hague is the city where a lot of (symposium, symposia) are held.

3. He published all the (analysis, analyses) of his scientific research.

4. At this factory they produce special (bacterium, bacteria) for producing pills.

5. Barbara has a large collection of (cactus, cacti).

6. The (data, datum) in the scientific research are very important.

7. This chemist left a lot of papers with hundreds of (formula, formulae).

8. The Earth moves round its (axis, axes).

9. It was one of the biggest (crisis, crises) in the world.

10. The rules for representing (thesis, theses) change every two years.

6. Make the nouns in brackets plural:

1. How many (person) study English as a second language?

2. Five (woman) opened a computer services company.

3. Even (child) enjoy learning on the Internet.

4. Most basketball players are 6 (foot) tall or more.

5. Which breed of (sheep) produces the finest wool?

6. My (tooth) are sensitive to the cold.

7. At daylight savings time, we have to change our (watch).

8. The boys went fishing and caught 10 (fish).

9. There are 10 (man) in the Maintenance Department.

10. The (wife) keep their (knife) on the (shelf).