The Category of Number

English count nouns have singular and plural forms. These nouns are called variable nouns. Singular nouns denotes one, plural ― more than one. Other nouns are used either only in the singular or only in the plural. They are called invariable nouns.

Variable nouns (regular plurals): Noun + -s/-es. The suffix -es is added to nouns ending in:-s, ss, sh, ch, x, z, o: glasses, watches, tomatoes, heroes.

Nouns in -o have the plural in -os: a) after a vowel: zoos, radios; b) in proper names: Romeos, Eskimos; c) in abbreviations: photos, kilos; d) in musical terms of Italian origin: pianos, solos, tangos, sopranos.

Nouns ending in -y, preceded by a consonant, change -y into -ies: stories, flies.

Only -s is added: a) after a vowel: boys, toys; b) in proper names: the Kennedys, Marys; c) to compounds: stand-bys, lay-bys.

Note: The plural of abbreviations is sometimes formed in spelling by doubling a letter: Ms (manuscript) ― MSS, p. (page) ― pp., Mr (Mister) ― Messers, MP (Member of Parliament) ― MPs [‘em’pi:z] (or MP’s), MD (Doctor of Medicine) ― MDs [‘em’di:z].

Irregular plurals. They form their plural by:

1) a change of a vowel: man ― men, woman ― women, tooth - teeth, foot ― feet, mouse ― mice, goose ― geese, louse ― lice;

2) voicing (twelve nouns ending in -f (e) form their plural changing -f(e) into -ve: wives, lives, wolves, calves, knives, halves, selves, shelves, thieves, leaves, elves, loaves. In other cases -fs: proofs, beliefs, still-lifes, etc. In a few cases both -fs and -ves forms are possible: scarf ― scarfs (-ves), dwarf ― dwarfs (-ves), handkerchief ― handkerchiefs(-ves);

3) -en plural: ox ― oxen, child ― children, brother― brethren;

4) retaining the singular form in the plural: a) a sheep ― sheep, a swine ― swine, a deer ― deer, a fish ― fish, a craft ― craft, b) nationality nouns in -ese, -ss: Japanese ― the Japanese, a Swiss ― the Swiss; с) quantitative nouns: hundred, thousand, million, dozen, stone (3 dozen eggs, but dozens of people);

5) retaining -s of the singular unchained in the plural: a means ― means, a works (завод) ― works, a barracks ― barracks, a headquarters ― headquarters, a series ― series, a species ― species;

6) plurals of foreign origin: -us — -i [ai]: stimulus – stimuli; -a — -ae [i:]: vertebra ― vertebrae, formula ― formulae; -um — -a [a:]: datum – data; -is [iz] — -es [iz]: basis – bases, crisis ― crises; -on — -a [a:]: phenomenon – phenomena, -ex, -ix — -ices: appendix – appendices.

Invariable Nouns

Singular invariables (singularia tantum). Here belong:

1. material nouns: sand, gold;

2. abstract nouns: music, homework;

3. substantivized adjectives with abstract meaning: the inevitable, the evident;

4. proper names: London, the Thames;

5. some diseases: diabetes, mumps, measles, rabies, rickets, shingles;

6) some games: bowls, billiards, draughts, darts, skittles;

7. the word news;

8) subject names in - ics: aerobics, classics, genetics, linguistics, mathematics, phonetics, statistics, etc. Some of these nouns are occasionally used in the plural, when you are talking about a particular person’s work or activities: His politics are uncertain. The statistics are optimistic.

9) some proper nouns: Athens, Brussels, Wales, the United States, the United Nations.

10) collective nouns: money, advice, weather, jewellery, information, fruit. But: the fruits of my investigation. This drink is made from four tropical fruits. The tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit.

Plural invariables

1. Summation plurals (= nouns denoting objects consisting of two parts): braces, shorts, glasses, jeans, leggings, tights, trousers, scissors, scales, binoculars, etc.

Note. When you want to refer to a single piece of clothing or a single tool you can use “some” or “a pair of” in front of the noun. You can refer to more than one item by using a number or a quantifier with “pairs of”. When you use “a pair of” with a noun in the plural form, the verb is singular if it is in the same clause, and plural if it is in the following relative clause: A new pair of new shoes brings more happiness. He put on a new pair of shoes, which were waiting for him.

2. Substantivized adjectives denoting people: the rich, the poor, the old, the young, the English.

3. Miscellaneous nouns: wages, sweepings, the contents of a book (but the silver content of the coin), archives, arms, ashes, customs, earnings, goods, greens, looks, stairs, manners, minutes, outskirts, riches, surroundings, thanks, the Middle Ages.

4. Some proper names: The Netherlands, the Midlands, the Hebrides], the East Indies.

Note the singular and the plural form of the noun in the following patterns:

He spared no effort to get you out. ― Он не жалел сил, чтобы помочь вам выбраться.

It’ll require/it’ll cost them a lot of effort. ― Это потребует (от них) большой затраты сил (больших усилий).

You have no grounds for complaint. ― У вас нет основания для жалоб.

Don’t go into detail. ― Не вдавайтесь в детали.

She described it in (great) detail. ― Она описала это в (мельчайших) подробностях.

He has a good eye for detail. ― Он замечает все детали.

On second thoughts he decided not to tell her anything. ― Поразмыслив, он решил ничего ей не говорить.

He had betrayed his mother without a second thought. ― Он предал свою мать, и никогда не сожалел об этом.

He was deep in thought. ― Он был погружен в свои мысли.

Note 1. Compound numerals with –one: twenty-one, thirty-one, etc. take a noun in the plural. Twenty-one students were present at the lecture. ― На лекции присутствовал двадцать один студент.

Note 2. The nouns grapes, carrots, beets, potatoes, onions, radishes, etc. (виноград, морковь, свекла, картофель, лук, редис) are always plural when used collectively. Lemons contain a lot of vitamin C.

Note 3. There are a few nouns in English which have only the plural form and lack the singular (pluralia tantum nouns). But they happen to be homonyms of nouns which are used in both forms, i.e. regular plural. These nouns are:

1. colour — colours (= hues) — colours (= regimental flags)

2. a force — forces (= powers) — forces (= an army)

3. a custom — customs (= habits) — customs (= taxis on imported goods)

4. a draught — draughts (= currents of air) — draughts (= a game)

5. a glass — glasses (= vessels for drinking from) — glasses (= spectacles)

6. a manner — manners (= ways) — manners (= behaviour)

a moral — morals (= lessons of a story) — morals (= standards of behaviour)

8) a minute — minutes (= spaces of time) — minutes (= secretary’s record of proceedings)

9) a quarter — quarters (= forth parts) — quarters (= lodgings)

Some nouns which belong to the singularia tantum group are occasionally used in the plural form for stylistic reasons suggesting a great quantity or extent: the sands of the Sahara; the snows and frosts of the Arctic; the waters of the Atlantic; the blue skies of Italy; in all weathers, etc.

Note 4. Some nouns which are singular in English are plural in Russian: applause, cream, debate, fighting, evidence, gossip, hair, ink, knowledge, progress, a gate, a funeral, a watch, a sledge, a race, a vocation.

The plural in compound nouns

1. As a rule in compounds it is the second component that takes the plural form: housewives, tooth-brushes, shoe shops.

2. Compounds in - ful have the plural ending at the end of the word: handfuls, spoonfuls or spoonsful.

3. Compounds in which the first component is “man” or “woman” have plurals in both parts: men-servant, women-doctors. But: man-eaters, woman – haters.

4. Compounds ending in man change it into men: policeman — policemen.

5. Such nouns as German, Roman, Norman are not compounds and therefore they have regular plurals: Germans, Romans, Normans.

6. In compounds originating from a prepositional noun phrase where the preposition is a linking element only the first noun takes the plural form: editors-in-chief, mothers-in-law, men-of-war (военные корабли).

7. In compounds with a conjunction as a linking element the plural is taken by the second noun: gin-and-tonics.

8. In compounds formed by a noun plus a preposition, or an adverb, or an adjective only the first element takes the plural: passers-by, lookers-on, courts-martial, attorneys-general.

9. When a compound is a substantivized phrase which doesn’t contain a noun, the last element takes the plural form: forget-me-nots, merry-go-rounds, stand-bys, grown-ups, close-ups, pick-ups (случайные знакомства), drop-outs (дезертиры), go-betweens (посредники).