OST164 T EXT E DITING A PPLICATIONS Chapter 4 - Plurals Pages 84-88

R ULE #1 Most plurals are formed by adding “s” to the singular forms. SingularPlural laugh laughs meeting meetings tradition traditions system systems technique techniques receiptreceipts

R ULE #2 To 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”. SingularPlural proof proof s safe safe s staff staff s SingularPlural leaf lea ves half hal ves shelf shel ves life li ves

R ULE #3 When a singular noun ends in s, x, z, ch, or sh, add “es” to form the plural. SingularPlural business busines ses box bo xes bench ben ches speech spee ches dish di shes dash da shes Zerox Zero xes

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. R ULE #4 AND RULE #5 SingularPlural attorneyattorney s journey journey s boy boy s highway highway s SingularPlural city cit ies activity activit ies inquiry inquir ies company compan ies

R ULE #6 SingularPlural H YPHENATED C OMPOUND brother-in-law brother s -in-law time-saver time-saver s cross-reference cross-reference s S PACED C OMPOUND notary public notar ies public sales tax sales tax es bulletin board bulletin board s 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”.

R ULE #7 SingularPlural go-between go-between s drive-in drive-in s have-not have-not s know-it-all know-it-all s 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. R ULE #8 SingularPlural radio radios portfolio portfolios SingularPlural memo memo s photo photo s tomato tomato es hero hero es

R ULE #9 SingularPlural Dr. Dr s. CEO CEO s c.o.d c.o.d s s s Form the plurals of personal titles, numbers, and abbreviations by adding “s”.

R ULE #10 SingularPlural 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.

P LURALS 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. SingularPlural (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 Checkup 4-2 on page 88