OST164 TEXT EDITING APPLICATIONS

Chapter 4 - Plurals Pages 84-88

RULE #1

Most plurals are formed by adding “s” to the singular forms.

Singular Plural

laugh laughs

meeting meetings

tradition traditions

system systems

technique techniques

receipt receipts

RULE #2To form the plural of most singular nouns ending in f, ff, or fe, add “s”.

Some nouns of this type change the f or fe to “ve” and add “s”.

Singular Plural

proof proofs

safe safes

staff staffs

Singular Plural

leaf leaves

half halves

shelf shelves

life lives

RULE #3

When a singular noun ends in s, x, z, ch, or sh, add “es” to form the plural.

Singular Plural

business businesses

box boxes

bench benches

speech speeches

dish dishes

dash dashes

Zerox Zeroxes

When a singular noun ends in a vowel plus “y”, add “s” to form the plural.

When a singular noun ends in a consonant plus “y”, change the “y” to “i” and add “es” to form the plural.

RULE #4 AND RULE #5

Singular Plural

attorney attorneys

journey journeys

boy boys

highway highways

Singular Plural

city cities

activity activities

inquiry inquiries

company companies

RULE #6

Singular Plural

HYPHENATED COMPOUND

brother-in-law brothers-in-law

time-saver time-savers

cross-reference cross-references

SPACED COMPOUND

notary public notaries public

sales tax sales taxes

bulletin board bulletin boards

To form the plural of a hyphenated or a spaced compound noun, make the main word plural. The plural may be formed by adding “s”, “es”, or “ies”.

RULE #7

Singular Plural

go-between go-betweens

drive-in drive-ins

have-not have-nots

know-it-all know-it-alls

To form the plural of a hyphenated compound noun that does not contain a noun as one of its elements, make the final element plural.

When the singular noun ends in “o” preceded by a vowel, add “s” to form the plural.

But…

Some singular nouns ending in “o” preceded by a consonant form their plurals by adding “s”; others add “es”. A dictionary lists the correct plurals.

RULE #8

Singular Plural

radio radios

portfolio portfolios

Singular Plural

memo memos

photo photos

tomato tomatoes

hero heroes

RULE #9

Singular Plural

Dr. Drs.

CEO CEOs

c.o.d c.o.ds

70 70s

1990 1990s

Form the plurals of personal titles, numbers, and abbreviations by adding “s”.

RULE #10

Singular Plural

man men

woman women

child children

foot feet

For some nouns, there are few useful rules for forming plurals.

You should know the irregular plurals of the following commonly used nouns.

PLURALS OF FOREIGN NOUNS

Plurals of foreign nouns are often used in business writing.

For some foreign nouns there are two correct forms – an English plural and a foreign plural.

Singular Plural (English and Foreign)

appendix appendixes or appendices

criterion criterions or criteria

focus focuses or foci

memorandum memorandums or memoranda

vertebra vertebras or vertebrae

stigma stigmas or stigmata

alga algas or algae

Complete:1.Checkup 4-1 on page 87

2.Checkup 4-2 on page 88