Plural Nouns
1. Plurals of individual nouns
　　Number indicates whether you are talking about one or more than one person, place or thing. If you are referring to only one, the noun is in the singular number. If you are referring to more than one, the noun is in the plural number.
　　The plural forms of most nouns are made by adding -s to the singular forms. But if the singular ends with -s, -x, -z, -ch, or -sh, th e plural is made by adding -es.
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
paper
papers
lunch
lunches
taxi
taxis
dress
dresses
idea
ideas
quiz
quizzes
menu
menus
brush
brushes
game
games
box
boxes
　　Words that end with -o are different. If such vowels as -a, -e, -i, -o, and -u come just before the -o, only -s is added: studios. If a consonant comes just before -o, usually only -s is added. But in some words, -es is added. You should memorize these common -es words:
cargoes
mosquitoes
potatoes
torpedoes
echoes
mottoes
tomatoes
vetoes
heroes
Negroes
tornadoes
volcanoes
　　Words that end with -y form the plural in two ways. Generally, the -y is changed to -i and -es is added.
country--countries 　　company--companies 　　army--armies
　　But proper names are exceptions, e.g.
Henry--Henrys 　　　　Mary--Marys
　　If a noun ends in "-y" preceded by a vowel, the plural is formed simply by adding "-s", e.g.
boy--boys 　　　　　　key--keys
　　The plural of noun ending with "-f" or "-fe" is formed, sometimes by adding "-s", sometimes by changing "-f" or "-fe" to "-ves". For this there is no all purpose rule.
leaf
leaves
chief
chiefs
half
halves
gulf
gulfs
life
lives
proof
proofs
self
selves
roof
roofs
wife
wives
safe
safes
　　Still we should pay attention to the following points:
a. A few nouns form the plural by change of a letter or letters in the middle of the word:

tooth--teeth　　　　woman--women　　goose--geese
foot--feet 　　　　 mouse--mice 　　louse--lice
b. A few nouns have the same form in both numbers, e.g.
deer　　sheep　　yoke　　means　　Chinese　li　　jin　　yuan
c. Names of things consisting of two similar halves, e.g. scissors, trousers, scales, spectacles, tongs, pants, shorts, etc., and some -ing participles usually take plural forms, e.g. savings, belongings, tidings, etc.. Some other nouns always take plural forms in certain sense, e.g. contents（目录），slums（贫民区），goods（货物），thanks（感谢），remains（遗物，遗体），etc..
d. Examples of double plural forms
cloth 　 cloths 不同的布
　　　　clothes 衣服
fish　　 fish 可指一尾或多尾鱼
　　　　fishes 不同种类的鱼
fruit 　 fruit 水果的总称
　　　　fruits 不同种类的水果
genius　 geniuses 天才
　　　　genii 鬼
shot　　shots 开枪的次数
　　　　shot 投篮
e. The plural forms of some nouns may have different meaning from their singular forms, e.g.
air 空气
airs 架子、架式
condition 情况
conditions 条件、环境
arm 手臂
arms 武器
letter 字母
letters 文学
custom 风俗
customs 关税
minute 分钟
minutes 记录 礼貌
look 看
looks 外表、容貌
colour 颜色
colours 军旗
manner 方式
manners举止、礼貌
sense 意义、常识
senses 感觉
regard 尊敬
regards 致意
work 工作
works 工厂
spirit 精神
spirits酒精、情绪
 
 

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