Plural Noun Forms 名称的复数形式

David

The plural form of most nouns is created simply by adding the letter s.

大多数情况下可以通过在词尾加字母s的方式将名称变成复数
• more than one snake = snakes
  more than one ski = skis 滑雪板
  more than one Fan = Fans (姓范的一家人）
  

Words that end in -sh-ch, x, s or s-like sounds, however, will require an -es for the plural:
Where a singular noun ends in a sibilant sound —/s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/ or /dʒ/— the plural is formed by adding /ɨz/. The spelling adds -es, or -s if the singular already ends in -e:
但是以-sh-ch, x, s 或发音和s相近的结尾的单词将需要加-es构成复数。
more than one bush = bushes
more than one brush = brushes
more than one dish = dishes
more than one witch = witches
more than one box = boxes
more than one glass = glasses
more than one bus = buses (busses)
more than one kiss = kisses
more than one James= Jameses

When the singular form ends in a voiceless consonant (other than a sibilant) —/p/, /t/, /k/, /f/ or /θ/— the plural is formed by adding /s/. The spelling adds -s:

lap	laps	/læps/
cat	cats	/kæts/
clock	clocks	/klɒks/
cuff	cuffs	/kʌfs/
death	deaths	/dɛθs/

For all other words (i.e. words ending in vowels or voiced non-sibilants) the regular plural adds /z/, represented orthographically by -s:

boy	boys	/bɔɪz/
girl	girls	/ɡɜrlz/
chair	chairs	/tʃɛəz/

In Old and Middle English voiceless fricatives /f/, /θ/ mutated to voiced fricatives before a voiced ending.[6] In some words this voicing survives in the modern English plural. In the case of /f/ changing to /v/, the mutation is indicated in the orthography as well; also, a silent e is added in this case if the singular does not already end with -e:

bath	baths	/bɑːðz/, /bæðz/
mouth2	mouths	/maʊðz/
calf	calves	/kɑːvz/, /kævz/
leaf1	leaves (see footnote), /liːvz/
knife2	knives	/naɪvz/
life	lives

In addition, there is one word where /s/ is voiced in the plural:[6]

house2

houses

/haʊzɨz/

Many nouns ending in /f/ or /θ/ (including all words where /f/ is represented orthographically by gh or ph) nevertheless retain the voiceless consonant:

moth	moths (voiced /mɒðz/ is rare but does occur in New England and Canada)
proof	proofs

Some can do either:

dwarf3	dwarfs/dwarves
hoof	hoofs/hooves
elf	elfs/elves
roof	roofs (commonly voiced as /ruːvz/ to rhyme with hooves, but rooves is a rare archaic spelling)
staff4	staffs/staves
turf	turfs/turves (latter rare)

Nouns with identical singular and pluralSome linguists regard these as regular plurals. Many of these are the names of animals:
bison 北美野牛；欧洲野牛buffalo  buffaloes或buffalos或buffalo 均可以deer （deers也可以）fishmoose  驼鹿；麋 （mooses也可以）pike （pikes也可以）sheeptrout （trouts亦可以)
swine Other nouns that have identical singular and plural forms include:
aircraft; watercraft; spacecraft; hovercraft; ocean-going craftthe bluescannon (sometimes cannons)stone (occasionally stones)series, species (and other words in -ies)scissors

Note that some dictionaries list "busses" as an acceptable plural for "bus." Presumably, this is because the plural "buses" looks like it ought to rhyme with the plural of "fuse," which is "fuses." "Buses" is still listed as the preferable plural form. "Busses" is the plural, of course, for "buss," a seldom used word for "kiss."

There are several nouns that have irregular plural forms. Plurals formed in this way are sometimes called mutated (or mutating) plurals. （名称变复数的不规则情形）

• more than one child = children
  more than one woman = women
  more than one man = men
  more than one person = people
  more than one goose = geese
  more than one tooth = teeth
• more than one foot = feet
  more than one mouse = mice
  more than one louse = louse
  more than one barracks = barracks 兵营
  more than one deer = deer (deers亦可)
  more than one sheep = sheep
  more than one fish = fish (fishes表示一种以上的鱼）
• more than one aircraft =aircraft
  
  And, finally, there are nouns that maintain their Latin or Greek form in the plural. (See media and data and alumni, below.)
  有些单词源自拉丁语或希腊语，复数还是沿用它们拉丁语或希腊语的复数。
• more than one medium = meida 媒体 (medias亦可）
• more than one nucleus = nuclei 原子核(nucleuses亦可）
  more than one syllabus = syllabi （syllabuses亦可）
  more than one focus = foci (focuses亦可）
  more than one fungus = fungi 真菌(funguses亦可）
• more than one cactus = cacti (cactuses is acceptable)
• more than one thesis = theses
• more than one crisis = crises*
• more than one phenomenon = phenomena
• more than one index = indices (indexes is acceptable)
• more than one appendix = appendices (appendixes is acceptable)
• more than one criterion = criteria
  

*Note the pronunciation of this word, crises: the second syllable sounds like ease. More than one base in the game of baseball is bases, but more than one basis for an argument, say, is also bases, and then we pronounce the word basease.

A handful of nouns appear to be plural in form but take a singular verb:

• The news is bad.
• Gymnastics is fun to watch.
• Economics/mathematics/statistics is said to be difficult. ("Economics" can sometimes be a plural concept, as in "The economics of the situation demand that . . . .")
  

Numerical expressions are usually singular, but can be plural if the individuals within a numerical group are acting individually:

• Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money.
• One-half of the faculty is retiring this summer.
• One-half of the faculty have doctorates.
• Fifty percent of the students have voted already.
  

And another handful of nouns might seem to be singular in nature but take a plural form and always use a plural verb:

• My pants are torn. (Nowadays you will sometimes see this word as a singular "pant" [meaning one pair of pants] especially in clothing ads, but most writers would regard that as an affectation.)
• Her scissors were stolen.
• The glasses have slipped down his nose again.
  

When a noun names the title of something or is a word being used as a word, it is singular whether the word takes a singular form or not.

• Faces is the name of the new restaurant downtown.
• Okies, which most people regard as a disparaging word, was first used to describe the residents of Oklahoma during the 1930s.
• Chelmsley Brothers is the best moving company in town.
• Postcards is my favorite novel.
• The term Okies was used to describe the residents of Oklahoma during the 1930s. (In this sentence, the word Okies is actually an appositive for the singular subject, "term.")
  

Plural Compound NounsCompound words create special problems when we need to pluralize them. As a general rule, the element within the compound that word that is pluralized will receive the plural -s, but it's not always that simple. Daughters-in-law follows the general rule, but cupfuls does not. See the special section on Compound Nouns and Modifiers or, better yet, a good dictionary, for additional help.
Problem ChildrenMany careful writers insist that the words data and media are Latin plurals and must, therefore, be used as plural words. The singular Latin forms of these words, however, are seldom used: datum as a single bit of information or medium as a single means of communication. Many authorities nowadays approve sentences like My data is lost. and The media is out to get the President. Even textbooks in computer science are beginning to use "data" as a singular.
Alumni and alumnae remain problematic. The plural of masculine singular alumnus is alumni; the plural of feminine singular alumna is alumnae. In traditional Latin, the masculine plural form, alumni, could include both genders. This does not go over well with some female alums. We note, furthermore, that Vassar College, which now has both, has lists of alumni and alumnae. Hartford College for Women, we assume, has only alumnae. In its publication style manual, Wesleyan University approves of alumni/ae. The genderless graduate and the truncated and informal alum have much to commend them.
Special CasesWith words that end in a consonant and a y, you'll need to change the y to an i and add es.

• more than one baby = babies
• more than one gallery = galleries
  (Notice the difference between this and galleys, where the final y is not preceded by a consonant.)
• more than one reality = realities
  This rule does not apply to proper nouns:
• more than one Kennedy = Kennedys
  

Words that end in o create special problems.

• more than one potato = potatoes
• more than one hero = heroes
  . . . however . . .
• more than one memo = memos
• more than one cello = cellos
  . . . and for words where another vowel comes before the o . . .
• more than one stereo = stereos
  

Plurals of words that end in -f or -fe usually change the f sound to a v sound and add s or -es.

• more than one knife = knives
• more than one leaf = leaves
• more than one hoof = hooves
• more than one life = lives
• more than one self = selves
• more than one elf = elves
  

There are, however, exceptions:

• more than one dwarf = dwarfs
  more than one roof = roofs
  

When in doubt, as always, consult a dictionary. Some dictionaries, for instance, will list both wharfs and wharves as acceptable plural forms of wharf. It makes for good arguments when you're playing Scrabble. The online version of Merriam-Webster's WWWebster Dictionary should help.
Collective Nouns, Company Names,
Family Names, Sports TeamsThere are, further, so called collective nouns, which are singular when we think of them as groups and plural when we think of the individuals acting within the whole (which happens sometimes, but not often).

audience band class committee crowd dozen

family flock group heap herd jury

kind lot [the] number public staff team

Thus, if we're talking about eggs, we could say "A dozen is probably not enough." But if we're talking partying with our friends, we could say, "A dozen are coming over this afternoon." The jury delivers its verdict. [But] The jury came in and took their seats. We could say the Tokyo String Quartet is one of the best string ensembles in the world, but we could say the Beatles were some of the most famous singers in history. Generally, band names and musical groups take singular or plural verbs depending on the form of their names: "The Mamas and the Papas were one of the best groups of the 70s" and "Metallica is my favorite band."
Note that "the number" is a singular collective noun. "The number of applicants is steadily increasing." "A number," on the other hand, is a plural form: "There are several students in the lobby. A number are here to see the president."
Collective nouns are count nouns which means they, themselves, can be pluralized: a university has several athletic teams and classes. And the immigrant families kept watch over their herds and flocks.
The word following the phrase one of the (as an object of the preposition of) will always be plural.

• One of the reasons we do this is that it rains a lot in spring.
• One of the students in this room is responsible.
  

Notice, though, that the verb ("is") agrees with one, which is singular, and not with the object of the preposition, which is always plural.
When a family name (a proper noun) is pluralized, we almost always simply add an "s." So we go to visit the Smiths, the Kennedys, the Grays, etc.When a family name ends in s, x, ch, sh, or z, however, we form the plural by added -es, as in the Marches, the Joneses, the Maddoxes, the Bushes, the Rodriguezes. Do not form a family name plural by using an apostrophe; that device is reserved for creating possessive forms.
When a proper noun ends in an "s" with a hard "z" sound, we don't add any ending to form the plural: "The Chambers are coming to dinner" (not the Chamberses); "The Hodges used to live here" (not the Hodgeses). There are exceptions even to this: we say "The Joneses are coming over," and we'd probably write "The Stevenses are coming, too." A modest proposal: women whose last names end in "s" (pronounced "z") should marry and take the names of men whose last names do not end with that sound, and eventually this problem will disappear.
The names of companies and other organizations are usually regarded as singular, regardless of their ending: "General Motors has announced its fall lineup of new vehicles." Try to avoid the inconsistency that is almost inevitable when you think of corporate entities as a group of individuals: "General Motors has announced their fall lineup of new vehicles." But note that some inconsistency is acceptable in all but the most formal writing: "Ford has announced its breakup with Firestone Tires. Their cars will no longer use tires built by Firestone." Some writers will use a plural verb when a plural construction such as "Associates" is part of the company's title or when the title consists of a series of names: "Upton, Vernon, and Gridley are moving to new law offices next week" or "Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego & Associates have won all their cases this year." Singular verbs and pronouns would be correct in those sentences, also.
The names of sports teams, on the other hand, are treated as plurals, regardless of the form of that name. We would write that "The Yankees have signed a new third baseman" and "The Yankees are a great organization" (even if we're Red Sox fans) and that "For two years in a row, the Utah Jazz have attempted to draft a big man." When we refer to a team by the city in which it resides, however, we use the singular, as in "Dallas has attempted to secure the services of two assistant coaches that Green Bay hopes to keep." (This is decidedly not a British practice. In the UK, the city or country names by which British newspapers refer to soccer teams, for example, are used as plurals — a practice that seems odd and inconsistent to American ears: "A minute's silence will precede the game at Le Stadium today, when Toulouse play Munster, and tomorrow at Lansdowne Road, when Leinster attempt to reach their first European final by beating Perpignan" [report in the online London Times].)

In English, the plural is usually formed with the addition of -s (e.g., one cat, two cats; one chair, two chairs) or -es (e.g., one bush, two bushes; one itch, two itches). Generally, -s is added to all nouns that end in a voiceless consonant, vowels, or voiced non-sibilants, whereas -es is added for nouns ending in a sibilant sound. Nouns that end in e are a noted exception; though e may form a sibilant sound, -s is used (e.g.,. one tree, two trees; one bee, two bees).
Some plural forms require more noticeable changes in word structure. Most words ending in a y preceded by a consonant are pluralised with ies (e.g., one lady, two ladies; one cherry, two cherries). Some words ending in f are pluralised with -ves (e.g., one leaf; two leaves; exception: one roof; two roofs). Words ending in x are often pluralised with -ces (e.g., one matrix, two matrices; one index, two indices). Words ending in us often replace the us with -i (e.g., one cactus, two cacti; one fungus, two fungi). A subset of words ending in um or on are pluralised by replacing with -a (e.g., one forum, two fora; one criterion, two criteria).
Other variations occur where vowels and consonants change in the middle structure of the word. Such examples are, (1 die; 2 dice), (1 goose; 2 geese) and, (1 mouse; 2 mice).
A small class of words have identical singular and plural forms: e.g., one sheep, two sheep; one aircraft, two aircraft.