Plurals of Nouns

Singular Единственное число Number В английском языке в единственном числе существительное не имеет никаких специальных показателей.

1) Некоторые существительные, формально имеющие форму множественного числа, могут обозначать единичный или неисчисляемый объект, и в этом случае согласуются с глаголом и другими зависимыми словами в единственном числе. К таким словам относятся:

а) barracks (казармы), crossroads (пересечение дорог, перекрёсток), headquarters (главный орган управления какими-л. структурами, штаб; штаб-квартира; орган управления войсками), means (средство; способ, метод; возможность), news, oats (овёс), series (ряд; серия; последовательность), species (вид, разновидность), works (1) завод, заводы 2) строительные работы 3) сооружения 4) мастерская, мастерские)

I had never seen one like it before, the species was new to me. — Я никогда не видел подобного существа, этот вид был для меня новым.

б) слова, оканчивающиеся на -ics, например mathematics, politics.

в) названия некоторых игр: billiards, darts, dominoes.

г) названия некоторых заболеваний: measles (корь), mumps (свинка (болезнь), shingles (опоясывающий лишай).

2) Также в единственном числе согласуются с глаголами и другими зависимыми словами названия государств и организаций, представляющие собой формы множественного числа: The United States is anxious to improve its image in Latin America. — Соединенные Штаты стремятся улучшить свой имидж в Латинской Америке.

3) В британском варианте английского языка собирательные существительные, т.е. слова, обозначающие группу лиц, множество предметов и т.п. (например: family, police, team, government, variety, number и т.д.), могут согласоваться с глаголом и другими зависимыми словами, как в единственном, так и во множественном числе. The police are chasing someone. — Полиция кого-то преследует. There are already in Boston a certain number of persons who, having no occupation, seek out the pleasures of the spirit. — В Бостоне уже появилось некоторое количество людей, которые, будучи ничем не заняты, ищут интеллектуальных развлечений.

4) Выражения со словами every, each согласуются с глаголом по единственному числу. С none допустимо сказуемое, как в единственном, так и множественном числе.

e.g. He says that (each and) every one of these paintings is a fake. — Он говорит, что все эти картины — подделки.

e.g. Each of these exercises takes a few minutes to do. — На выполнение каждого из этих упражнений нужно потратить несколько минут.

e.g. None of my children has/have blonde hair. — У всех моих детей тёмные волосы.

Much and many also illustrate the distinction between COUNT NOUNS (also called UNIT NOUNS or COUNTABLES) and MASS NOUNS (or UNCOUNTABLES). Count nouns such as friend, desk, can be preceded by one, and may have a separate plural form which can be preceded by How many or by a numeral higher than one. Mass nouns like, bread, milk, cannot be preceded by one, they cannot have a separate plural form, but can be preceded by How much.

Just as a word like work can act as either a noun or a verb, so a number of nouns may be used either as mass or as count according to the speaker’s exact meaning: light is a mass noun in

e.g. Light travels much faster than sound;

it is a count noun in

e.g. I have a light by my bed.

There are two grammatical numbers in English: Singular and Plural.

There are several ways of writing the plural. The essential ones are:

1. By adding “s” to the singular, e.G.

boy – boys; school – schools

2. By adding “es”

a) to most words that end in “o”, e.g.

potato – potatoes; hero – heroes

N.B. piano – pianos

b) to words that end in the sounds: [s], [tʃ], [ʃ], [ks], [z]

kiss –kisses; brush – brushes; church – churches; box – boxes; size –sizes

matches, buses, bushes, boxes

3. Words ending in “y,” with a consonant immediately before it, change the “y” to “ies,” e.G.

lady – ladies; fly –flies; story – stories; army – armies

Words ending in “y” with a vowel immediately before it simply add “s,” e.g.

valley – valleys; donkey – donkeys

4. Words ending in “f” or “fe” generally change this to “ves,” e.g.

The following words ending in the singular with the sound /f/, spelt f or fe, end in the plural with /vz/, spelt –ves:

Like loaf:

leaf – leaves; loaf –loaves; shelf –shelves; thief – thieves;

calf, half, self, wharf, elf, hoof, scarf, sheaf, wolf

Like life:

wife –wives; knife – knives

N.B. wharf (wharves or wharfs) (пристань; причал), hoof (hooves or hoofs) (название конечностей некоторых животных а) копыто), scarf (scarves or scarfs) (шарф; кашне) also have a plural that is regular in pronunciation and spelling. (may end in spelling and pronunciation with /fs/ or /vz/.)

N.B. roofs, handkerchiefs, regular in spelling, may end in pronunciation with /fs/ or /vz/.

N.B. Treat all other words ending in f as regular, eg cliff –cliffs;

5. Some words form their plural by a change of vowel, e.G.

These old plural forms have survived in modern English:

a man – men; woman – women

The spelling –men occurs in airman, fireman, gentleman, postman, workman, etc., though in normal fluent speech the pronunciation of the singular and plural is the same, ie the final syllable is pronounced /mǝn/. The plural is regular in Germans, Romans, and the Bowmans (Surnames can be used in the plural, as in: I see that the Robinsons are having their house repainted.)

b child – children; ox – oxen

c tooth – teeth; foot – feet; goose – geese.

d mouse – mice; louse – lice;

e brethren survives as a plural of brother but is only used in a religious context; otherwise, the plural of brother – brothers;

f pence survives as a plural of penny, but only to indicate a total amount, as in The fare is now tenpence. Tenpence may refer to one silver coin or to ten individual pennies, ie coins worth a penny each.

Pennies might be regarded as a “separate” plural, pence as a collective one. A similar distinction is found in the plural of a fish and person:

Singular	More than one unit, separately	More than one, collectively
Who is that person?	Three separate persons.	Those people are my friends.
This fish is good.	Two separate fishes.	Those fish are bad.

Distinguish between the following two uses of people:

Most people (=persons) are good at heart.

Most peoples (=races) have a country of their own.