2017-10-25
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1. As a rule in compound nouns the second element 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, but the change doesn’t affect the pronunciation. Both the endings
– man and – men are pronounced like [- әn]:
policeman [әn] – policemen [әn]
fisherman [әn] – fishermen [әn]
fireman [әn] – firemen [әn]
☼ Note: Such nouns as German, Roman, Norman are not compounds, and therefore they have regular plurals:
German s, Roman s, Norman s
5. In compounds where the preposition is a linking element only the first nouns takes the plural form:
editors- in –chief, mothers – in – law, commanders –
in –chief, coats – of – mail, men – of – war (военные
корабли).
6. In compound with a conjunction as a linking element the second element takes the plural form:
gin – and – tonics
7. In compound nouns formed by a nouns plus a preposition, or an adverb, or an adjective only the first element takes the plural form:
passers-by, lookers –on, courts – martial, attorneys-
general.
8. When the compound is a substantivized phrase which doesn’t contain a noun, the last element takes the plural ending - s:
forget–me–nots, breakdowns, stand-bys, grown-ups,
close-ups, pick-ups (случайные знакомства), drop-
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outs (дезертиры), go – betweens (посредники).
☼Note: The only exception here is the word “going-on
(повадки)”. The plural form of this noun is going s -on.
Uncountable nouns.
There are things in English that cannot be counted directly. The nouns which refer to these things are called uncountable nouns (uncount nouns or non-count nouns). (See §1/1.1)
These nouns are as follows:
Linen money progress food
Furniture business traffic sugar
Knowledge information hair beef
Advice trouble scenery music
Luggage wood bread fear
Permission luck weather spaghetti
Death equipment sand macaroni
Chaos machinery behaviour failure
Coal ice iron rice
Steel water courage honesty
Aid help sleep work
Accommodation, etc.
☼ Note: There is only one case when it is possible to use the noun ‘weather’ in plural form:
