{"id":759,"date":"2016-07-15T22:54:48","date_gmt":"2016-07-15T22:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level3-english\/?post_type=chapter&p=759"},"modified":"2019-04-30T15:05:11","modified_gmt":"2019-04-30T15:05:11","slug":"text-nouns","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomposition1\/chapter\/text-nouns\/","title":{"raw":"Nouns","rendered":"Nouns"},"content":{"raw":"Nouns are a\u00a0diverse group of words, and they are very common in English. Nouns refer to\u00a0things<\/strong>\u2014the names of people\u00a0(Dr. Sanders, lawyers), places (Kansas, factory, home), things (scissors, sheet music, book), or ideas (love, truth, beauty, intelligence).\r\n

Pluralization<\/h2>\r\n\"IconEnglish has both regular and irregular plural nouns. Regular plurals follow this rule (and other similar rules), but\u00a0irregular plurals are, well, not regular and don't follow a \"standard\" rule.\r\n

Regular\u00a0Plurals<\/h3>\r\nLet's start with regular plurals: regular plural nouns<\/strong> use established\u00a0patterns to\u00a0indicate that there is more than one of a thing. As was\u00a0mentioned earlier, we add the plural suffix -s<\/em> or -es<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>to most words (cats<\/em>, zebras<\/em>, classes<\/em>, foxes, <\/em>heroes<\/em>). Remember that\u00a0when words have a foreign origin (e.g., Latin, Greek, Spanish), we just add the plural suffix -s<\/em>\u00a0(tacos<\/em>, avocados<\/em>, maestros<\/em>).\r\n\r\nWhen a word ends in y<\/em>\u00a0and there is a consonant before y<\/em>, we change the y<\/em>\u00a0to i<\/em>\u00a0and add -es<\/em>. Thus\u00a0sky<\/em> becomes\u00a0skies<\/em>. However, if the\u00a0y<\/em> follows another vowel, you simply add an -s<\/em>. (donkeys<\/em>,\u00a0alloys<\/em>). When a word ends in -f<\/em> or -fe<\/em>, we change the f<\/em> to v<\/em>\u00a0and add -es\u00a0<\/em>(calves<\/em>,\u00a0leaves<\/em>). However,\u00a0if there are two terminal f<\/em>s, or if\u00a0you still pronounce the f<\/em> in the plural, you simply add an -s<\/em> (cliffs<\/em>,\u00a0chiefs<\/em>).\r\n

Irregular Plurals<\/h3>\r\nIrregular plurals<\/strong>, unlike regular plurals,\u00a0don't necessarily follow any particular pattern\u2014instead, they follow a lot of\u00a0different<\/em> patterns. For this reason, irregular plurals require a lot of memorization. If you're ever in doubt, the dictionary is there for you.\r\n\r\nThe first kind of irregular plural we'll talk about is the no-change<\/strong> or base plural<\/strong>. In these words, the\u00a0singular noun has the exact same form as the plural (sheep<\/em>,\u00a0fish<\/em>,\u00a0deer<\/em>, moose<\/em>). Most no-change plurals are types of animals.\r\n\r\nThe next type of irregular is the mid-word vowel change<\/strong>. This includes words like\u00a0tooth<\/em>,\u00a0man<\/em>, and\u00a0mouse<\/em>, which become\u00a0teeth<\/em>,\u00a0men<\/em>, and\u00a0mice<\/em>.\r\n
Note:<\/strong> The plural for a computer mouse (as opposed to the fuzzy animal) can either be mice<\/em> or mouses<\/em>. Some people prefer\u00a0mouses<\/em> as it creates some differentiation between the two words.<\/div>\r\nWe also have the\u00a0plural -en<\/em>.<\/strong> In these words, -en<\/em> is used as the plural ending instead of -s<\/em> or\u00a0-es<\/em>.\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • child\u00a0\u2192 children<\/li>\r\n \t
  • ox\u00a0\u2192 oxen<\/li>\r\n \t
  • brother\u00a0\u2192 brethren<\/li>\r\n \t
  • sister\u00a0\u2192 sistren<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
    Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Brethren<\/em>\u00a0and sistren<\/em>\u00a0are\u00a0antiquated terms that you're unlikely to encounter or use; however, since these are the only four words in English that use this plural, all four have been included above.<\/div>\r\nThe last category of irregular plurals is borrowed words<\/strong>. These words are native to other languages (e.g., Latin, Greek) and have retained the pluralization rules from their original tongue.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
    Singular -us<\/em>; Plural -i<\/em><\/th>\r\ncactus\u00a0\u2192 cacti<\/td>\r\nfungus\u00a0\u2192 fungi<\/td>\r\nsyllabus\u00a0\u2192 syllabi<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Singular\u00a0-a<\/em>; Plural -ae<\/em><\/th>\r\nformula\u00a0\u2192 formulae<\/td>\r\nvertebra\u00a0\u2192 vertebrae<\/td>\r\nlarva\u00a0\u2192 larvae<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Singular -ix<\/em>, -ex<\/em>; Plural -ices<\/em>, -es<\/em><\/th>\r\nappendix\u00a0\u2192 appendices<\/td>\r\nmatrix \u2192 matrices<\/td>\r\nindex\u00a0\u2192 indices<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Singular -on<\/em>,\u00a0-um<\/em>; Plural -a<\/em><\/th>\r\nbacterium \u2192 bacteria<\/td>\r\ncriterion \u2192 criteria<\/td>\r\nmedium\u00a0\u2192 media<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Singular -is<\/em>; Plural -es<\/em><\/th>\r\nthesis\u00a0\u2192 theses<\/td>\r\nanalysis\u00a0\u2192 analyses<\/td>\r\ncrisis\u00a0\u2192 crises<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nThe rules presented in the table above are almost always followed, but as a borrowed word becomes more popular in its usage, it\u00a0can be\u00a0adopted into regular pluralization. For example, formulas<\/em> and\u00a0appendixes<\/em> are accepted words in formal situations. Also,\u00a0in informal speech, cactuses<\/em>\u00a0and funguses<\/em>\u00a0are acceptable.\r\n
    Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Because of the word's history,\u00a0octopuses<\/em> is preferred to\u00a0octopi<\/em>, but\u00a0octopi<\/em> is an accepted word.<\/div>\r\n
    \r\n

    Practice<\/h3>\r\n