How does one explain English plurals?
I guess that for me it either looks correct or it doesn’t.
Here are some observations gathered from the Web to explain this chaos. I’ll cover the consistent ones in this post and the next. Then we’ll look at the inconsistent ones.
For most words, add s.
elephant becomes elephants
stereo becomes stereos
For words ending with a hissing sound, add es.
box becomes boxes
church becomes churches
For words ending in a vowel plus y, add s.
tray becomes trays
keys becomes keys
For words ending in a consonant plus y, change y to ie and add s.
enemy becomes enemies
baby becomes babies
For words ending in is, change the is to es and add s.
synopsis becomes synopses
thesis becomes theses
For words ending in us, change the us to i.
cactus becomes cacti
fungus becomes fungi
Is it the sisters or the in-laws?
How do you spell the plural form of compound words?
Pluralize the word that is increasing.
sister-in-law becomes sisters-in-law
runner-up becomes runners-up
passer-by becomes passers-by
five-year-old become five-year-olds
greenhouse becomes greenhouses
cupful becomes cupfuls
firefly becomes fireflies
post office becomes post offices
Old-bike repairman or old bike-repairman?
It depends on whether the bike is old or the repairman is old.
We often hyphenate modifying compund words to clarify the meaning:
My grandfather is an old-furniture salesman.
Sometimes no clarification is needed:
An antique dealer could also be called an old furniture salesman.
Modifying words preceding the noun are often hyphenated:
My six-year-old son likes to play with toy cars.
American-football players are usually men.
Modifying words following the noun are not hyphenated:
My son is six years old.
Some men are players of American football.
There are some exceptions, so check a dictionary:
Time-sensitive documents are those which are time-sensitive.
A left-handed catcher would catch the baseball left-handed.
The highest-priced car is the most desired car.
Compound adjectives that are comparative or superlative are often hyphenated:
That is the highest-priced car I have ever seen.
I would need a longer-term loan to purchase that vehicle.
But, of course, there are exceptions:
He is the most talented youngster I have seen this year.
An adverb (-ly) compounded with other modifiers is not hyphenated:
This is a highly rated bank.
They sell publicly held securities.
A new moon, a firefly and a six-year-old . . .
The three things in the title are examples of how we form compound words.
new moon is the open form
post office, real estate, half sister, attorney general, grade point average
firefly is the closed form
secondhand, softball, keyboard, notebook, butterfly, workmanship
six-year-old is the hyphenated form
daughter-in-law, over-the-counter, mass-produced, one-eighth, twenty-three
Which form should you use? Check an authoritative dictionary.
To further confuse the issue, the following are all corrrect:
My six-year-old son.
My son is six years old.
He is a six-year-old.
Did Grandpa Bill have a grandma?
When to capitalize family names such as, Grandma, Grandpa, Mother, Father, Uncle.
Capitalize grandpa when it substitutes for the real name:
Let’s go to Grandpa’s farm today.
Capitalize grandpa when followed by a name:
Let’s go see Grandpa Bill.
Do not capitalize grandpa when it could refer to anyone:
There are many grandpas at the retirement home.
Do not capitalize grandpa when preceded by a pronoun:
I will go see my grandpa today.
Combining two independent clauses.
”Independent clause” is really just another name for a simple sentence.
When you join two independent clauses, do one of the following:
separate them with a semicolon:
I didn’t want the bananas to spoil; I ate them all that evening.
separate them with a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet):
I didn’t want the bananas to spoil, so I ate them all that evening.
make them separate sentences:
I didn’t want the bananas to spoil. I ate them all that evening.
Do not separate two independent clauses with a comma.
Mispronounced then misspelled
cemetary not cematary
opportunities not oppertunities
victim not victum
How do I punctuate the end of these sentences?
The punctuation at the end of a quotation goes inside the quotation marks:
“. . . and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
When several words of a quote are missing, use ellipses without ending punctuation:
“. . . and dedicated to the proposition that all men . . .”
When the last word of a quote is missing, use ellipses and the ending punctuation:
“. . . and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created . . . .”
When a sentence ends with an abbreviation, do not add an extra period:
The movie starts at 7 p.m.
When a question ends with an abbreviation, add the question mark:
Does the sun rise today before 6 a.m.?
When a sentence ends with an acronym, add the ending punctuation:
He had been an employee of NASA.
When an entire sentence is enclosed in parentheses, place the punctuation inside:
(He had hoped it would be kept a secret.)
When the end of a sentence is enclosed in parentheses, place the punctuation outside:
He had written a diary (which he had hoped would be kept private).
To whom did you address the invitation?
When should I use whom instead of who?
Formal:
When who is the object of a verb, use whom:
Whom did you see downtown?
When who is the object of a preposition, use whom:
To whom did you send the invitations?
Informal:
When who is the object of a verb, use who:
Who did you see downtown?
When who is the object of a preposition placed at the end, use who:
Who did you send the invitation to?
Both formal and informal:
When who is the object of a preposition, use whom:
To whom am I speaking?
He is someone for whom I have great respect.
To whom have you been talking?