2017-10-25
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1. a) Mrs. b) Ms
2. a) a chairman b) a chairperson
3. a) a fireman b) a firefighter
4. a) a pensioner b) a senior citizen
5. a) the handicapped b) the disabled c) the differently
abled
6. a) a Red Indian b) a Native American
7. a) ladies b) women
8. a) a congressman b) a member of Congress
9. a) a mailman b) a mail carrier
10. a) mankind b) humanity
11. a) a policeman(woman) b) a police officer
§3. Countable nouns in English possess the category of number. Countable nouns have singular and plural forms.
Singular denotes one, plural denotes more than one. In Modern English the singular form of a noun is unmarked (has zero inflection). The plural form is marked by the inflexion – (e)s. The spelling and pronunciation of the plural morpheme vary.
Regular formation of plural form in English.
1. Nouns ending in vowels and voiced consonants have the plural ending pronounced as [z]:
e.g. bee – bees [bi:z], hand – hands [hændz]
2. Nouns ending in voiceless consonants have a voiceless ending:
e.g. book – books [buks]
3. Nouns ending in –s, -sh., -as, -ch, -x, -z have ending [iz]:
e.g. actress - actresses [΄æktrisiz]
bush – bushes [΄bu∫iz]
4. Nouns ending in – o have the ending [z]:
e.g. hero – heroes [΄hiәrouz]
potato – potatoes [pә΄teitouz]
The regular plural inflexion of nouns in – o has two spellings: – oes and – os.
The ending - os occurs in the following cases:
a. after a vowel – bamboos, embryos, folios, kangaroos, radios, studios, zoos;
b. in proper names – Romeos, Eskimos, Filipinos;
c. in abbreviations: kilos (kilogramme), photos (photograph), pros (professionals);
d. also in some borrowed words: pianos, concertos, dynamos, quartos, solos, tangos, tobaccos.
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In other cases the spelling in – oes is used with the nouns ending in - o: tomatoes, echoes, Negroes, potatoes, vetoes, embargoes.
☼ Note: The nouns mosquito, cargo, banjo and halo have
two ways of formation the plural form:
mosquito – mosquit os - mosquit oes
cargo – carg os - carg oes
banjo – banj os - banj oes
halo – hal os – hal oes
5. The letter – y usually changes into – i+ es:
sky – skies [skaiz]
But the letter - y remains unchanged - ys:
a. after vowels: day - days
The only exception here is nouns ending in - quy: soliloquy (монолог) – soliloqu ies
b. in proper names:
the two Germanys, the Kennedys, the Gatsbys
c. in compounds:
stand – bys, lay – bys
6. Thirteen nouns ending in – f(e) form their plural changing - f(e) into – v(e). The ending I this case is pronounced like [z]:
calf – calves life – lives thief - thieves
elf – elves loaf – loaves wife – wives
half – halves self – selves wolf – wolves
knife – knives sheaf – sheaves
leaf – leaves shelf – shelves
Other nouns ending in - f(e) have the plural inflexion – s in the regular way. The ending is pronounced like [s]:
proof – proofs, chief – chief, safe – safes, cliff – cliffs, gulf –
gulfs, dwarf – dwarfs, reef – reefs, grief – griefs.
☼Note that in few cases both endings - fs and - ves are possible: scarf – scarfs/scarves,
Dwarf – dwarfs/dwarves,
Hoof- hoofs/hooves.
7. Nouns ending in – th after a short vowel have the ending
- s [s]: month – months [mΛnθs].
Nouns ending in – th after a long vowel or a diphthong have [ðz] in the plural: baths [bα:ðz], path [pα:ðz], oath [ouðz]
☼ Note: youth [ju: θs ], births [bә: θs ]
8. The plural of abbreviations is sometimes formed in spelling by doubling a letter:
Ms (manuscript) Mss
p. (page) pp.
Mr. (Mister) Messrs [΄mesәz]
M.P. (Member of Parliament) M.P.s [΄em΄pi:z]
M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) M.D.s [΄em΄di:z]
Co. (Company) Co.s [kouz]
☼ Note: In a phrase like “Miss Brown” two ways of plural formation are possible:
1. “the Miss Browns”
2. “ the Misses Brown” - this
