6 Noun Phrases
/k/ back-backs; leak-leaks; trick-tricks; bike-bikes; lake-lakes
/f/ cliff-cliffs; cough-coughs; laugh-laughs; cuff-cuffs; sniff-sniffs
/θ/ path-paths; lath-laths; monolith-monoliths, bath-baths
2. If the noun ends in a voiced consonant sound (except a sibilant) or any vowel (all vowels
in English are voiced), then the plural is formed with the voiced sibilant /z/, which is also spelled
-s. Here are examples of all the consonant sounds that this rule applies to:
/b/ lab-labs; web-webs; blob-blobs; globe-globes; tube-tubes
/d/ bed-beds; fl uid-fl uids; fl ood-fl oods; code-codes; shade-shades
/g/ bug-bugs; rag-rags; fl ag-fl ags, pig-pigs; hog-hogs
/v/ wave-waves; hive-hives; love-loves; live-lives; cove-coves
/l/ girl-girls; pill-pills; wheel-wheels; role-roles; rule-rules
/m/ ham-hams; farm-farms; room-rooms; fl ame-fl ames; home-homes
/n/ hen-hens; teen-teens; moon-moons; loan-loans; tune-tunes; throne-thrones
/ŋ/ ring-rings; thing-things; throng-throngs; rung-rungs; song-songs
Since all vowels are voiced in English, this rule also governs the plural of all words ending in
a vowel sound. For example:
sea-seas; zoo-zoos; cow-cows; bee-bees; show-shows; tree-trees
Words ending in the letter y are little more complicated. When the singular form of a word
ends in a consonant ϩ the letter y (that is, when the letter y represents a vowel sound), we form the
regular plural by changing the y to i and adding -es. (There is a schoolroom saying that goes like
this: “Change the y to i and add -es.”)
The plural -s is pronounced /z/ in the expected way. The change of y to ie does not affect pro-
nunciation—it is a graphic change only. Here are some examples (all with a /z/ pronunciation):
Singular Plural
baby babies
family families
lady ladies
sky skies
story stories
When the letter y is combined with a vowel, a different spelling rule applies. To see the differ-

3. stool
4. history
5. wall
6. rake
7. play
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8 Noun Phrases
8. stove
9. cough
10. moth
11. day
12. note
13. delay
14. hike
15. tire
16. rain
17. plate
18. grove
19. show
20. pipe
3. If the noun ends in a sibilant sound, either voiceless or voiced, then the plural is pro-
nounced as a separate unstressed syllable /ǝz/ rhyming with “buzz,” spelled -es. (Of course, if
the singular already ends in a silent e, we would add just an -s as in horse-horses, or else we would
have crazy spellings like X horse-es.) Here are examples of the most common consonant sounds
that this rule applies to:
/s/ (often spelled -ce) glass-glasses; bus-buses; face-faces; prince-princes; rinse-rinses;
fox-foxes
/š/ (often spelled -sh) wish-wishes; rash-rashes; McIntosh-McIntoshes; bush-bushes
/č/ (spelled -ch or -tch) watch-watches; switch-switches; bunch-bunches
/ǰ/ (spelled -ge or -dge) rage-rages; page-pages; dodge-dodges

17. duty
18. patch
19. allowance
20. sheet
For a variety of historical reasons, English has some plurals that are formed in an irregular
way.
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10 Noun Phrases
Seven words form their plural by a vowel change alone:
Singular Plural
foot feet*
goose geese
louse lice
man men
mouse mice
tooth teeth
woman women**
Notes: *In addition to the usual plural form feet, the noun foot has a second plural form foot
when we use the word to refer to length or measurement. For example:
I bought a six foot ladder.
He is six foot three inches tall.
**Despite the spelling of women, it is the pronunciation of the fi rst syllable rather than the second
that changes: woman is pronounced /wo mǝn/; women is pronounced /w
I mǝn/; the second syl-
lables, -man and -men, are pronounced exactly alike with an unstressed vowel /mǝn/.
Two words retain an old plural ending, -en:
Singular Plural
ox oxen
child children
The long vowel in the singular child also changes to a short vowel in the fi rst syllable of the plural

If one of these words is used as an object with a defi nite article, then the number is ambiguous.
For example:
Look at the deer! (one deer or many deer?)
Exercise 1.4
The following sentences contain one or more incorrect irregular plurals. Draw a line through
each incorrect plural and write the correct form above it.
loaves knives
I sliced the loafs and put the knifes back in the drawer.
1. My niece has a farm where she raises disease-resistant varieties of sheeps.
2. Like all farmers, she has a constant problem with mouses and rats.
3. She and her husband run the farm by themselfes, so it is a lot of work for them.
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12 Noun Phrases
4. There are coyotes and wolfs in the area, but their dogs help keep them away.
5. The coyotes in particular are like thiefs, always waiting and watching.
6. If a coyote gets just a few feets inside the fence, the horses will drive it away.
7. Once they lost some sheeps when some childs left a gate open.
8. Their valley is full of deers, which also support a large population of coyotes.
9. The river in the valley is full of salmons in the fall.
10. Farming is terribly hard work, but we all choose the lifes we want to live.
Noncount nouns
The types of noncount nouns that you are most likely to encounter fall into the semantic catego-
ries listed below:
Abstractions: beauty, charity, faith, hope, knowledge, justice, luck, reliability
Food: butter, cheese, chicken, pepper, rice, salt
Liquids and gases: beer, blood, coffee, gasoline, water, air, oxygen
Materials: cement, glass, gold, paper, plastic, silk, wood, wool
Natural phenomena: electricity, gravity, matter, space
Weather words: fog, pollution, rain, snow, wind
With certain exceptions that are discussed below, these noncount nouns are ungrammatical