The plural and possessive forms in English often confuse novice writers. Many mistakenly use apostrophes to indicate both plural and possessive forms, while others, for whom English is not the first language, omit the apostrophe entirely because it is not used in their language. Still others don't know when to use "-s" or "-es" to indicate the plural form of a word. The following passages show when and how to use plurals and possessives and how to form them.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: When to Use Plural and Possessive Forms
Step 1. Use the plural form to indicate more than one object
For example, "I installed 1 door of the 2 doors I bought." The plural "doors" indicates that more than one door has been purchased.
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Some compound words require that the word to be rendered in the plural be identified. For compound words like "daughter-in-law" or "attorney general", the first word is rendered in the plural ("daughters-in-law" or "attorneys general").
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Step 2. Use the possessive form to indicate possession of something
For example "The boy's dog chased the girls down the street." The possessive "boy's" indicates that the boy is the owner of the dog who chased the girls.
If the word is used as an adjective in general, you will need to use the plural form instead of the possessive one. If you are giving a conference for a group of writers you should write "writers conference"; if it is held by those writers, then it belongs to them, you should write "writers' conference",
Method 2 of 3: Plural Forms
Step 1. Add "-s" to most words ending with a mute vowel or consonant to form the plural
This rule applies to most English words, except those mentioned in the following passages.
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An "-s" without an apostrophe is also used to form the plural of an acronym in capital letters (such as "POWs" for "prisoners of war" or "RBIs" for "runs batted in") or for decades such as the 1880s or 1950s. (When there are abbreviations such as "'50s" for "1950s", an apostrophe is inserted before the number 50 to indicate truncation).
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An apostrophe – s could be used to indicate a plural for single lowercase letters, dotted abbreviations, or other abbreviations where the "s" alone would be confusing as in the case of "x's", "M. P.'s" or "SOS's." Otherwise the apostrophe is not used to indicate a plural.
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Unit abbreviations do not have the plural form, while those used to indicate parts of writing do not take the plural ("ch" for "chapter" or "chapters") or have a single letter for the singular and a double for the plural ("p" for "page", but "pp" for "pages").
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Step 2. Add "-es" to words ending in "-ch", "-sh", "-x", "-z", "-s"
These are called hissing sounds. For example, the plural of "ditch" is "ditches", the plural of "brush" is "brushes", the plural of "fox" is "foxes", the plural of "fuzz" is "fuzzes" and the plural of "dress" is "dresses."
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If the word ends in "-e", the plural is formed by adding an "-s": the plural of "judge" is "judges", and the plural of "phrase" is "phrases."
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Some plurals of words ending in "-s" double the final "s" before adding the plural suffix. The plural form of "bus" can be "buses" or "busses", depending on whether "bus" refers to the means of transport ("buses") or to an electronic component ("busses").
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Step 3. Add "-es" to words ending in "-o" preceded by a consonant
The plural of "tomato" is "tomatoes", and the plural of "zero" is "zeroes."
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Words that English has borrowed from other languages, ending in "-o" preceded by a single consonant, usually form the plural by adding "-s". The plural of "piano" is "pianos".
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Some words ending in "-o" preceded by a consonant can form their plurals using "-es" or "-s." The plural of "tornado" can be either "tornadoes" or "tornados", and the plural of "volcano" can be either "volcanoes" or "volcanos".
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Step 4. Add "-es" to words ending in "-y" preceded by a consonant after changing "-y" to "-i
"The plural of" berry "is" berries ", and the plural of" lady "is" ladies."
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This rule does not usually apply to proper nouns ending in "-y": the plural of "Tony" (the male name or the theatrical prize) is "Tonys".
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Some words ending in "-y" preceded by a vowel can transform "y" into "-i"; the plural of "money" can be written as "monies".
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Step 5. Add "-es" after a few words ending "f" after changing the "-f" to "-v
"The plural of" calf "is" calves ", the plural of" knife "is" knives "and the plural of" leaf "is" leaves ", except when referring to the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team. The plural of "proof" is "proofs", not "proves", which is the third person of the present tense of the verb "to prove".
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Some words ending in "-f" can form the plural by adding "-s" or by transforming the "f" into "v" and adding "-es", as in the case of "hoof" ("hoofs" or "hooves") or "staff" ("staffs" or "staves"). In some cases, it depends on the meaning; the plural of "dwarf" is "dwarfs" when referring to people of short stature and "dwarves" when referring to a population of fantasy novels.
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Step 6. Use "-n" or "-en" to form the plural of some words that derive from Old English
The plural of "child" is "children", and the plural of "ox" is "oxen".
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The plural of "brother" can be "brothers" or "brethren", depending on whether it refers to kinsmen ("brothers") or followers of the same faith ("brethren").
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Other Old English words form the plural by changing the vowel, as in the case of "foot", "feet", "tooth", "teeth" or "man", "men" and "woman", "women".
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Step 7. Know that some words from Latin and Greek have irregular plurals
Some words of Greek and Latin origin can form the plural by adding "-a", "-ae", "-era", "-ta" or "-i", while others add the suffix "-s" or "-es "or they don't change at all.
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Words ending in "-on", such as "criterion" or "phenomenon", form the plural by dropping "-on" and adding "-a" ("criteria", "phenomena"). Words ending in "-um", such as "medium" or "millennium", usually form the plural by dropping "-um" and adding "-a" ("media", "millennia"), although some might take an "-s" (the use of "mediums" to indicate spiritualists).
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Some words ending in "-a", such as "alumna" (female student), form the plural with "-ae" at the end ("alumnae"), while others usually form the plural by adding "-s" ("encyclopedias "for the plural of" encyclopedia ").
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Words ending in "-ma", such as "stigma" and "stoma" can form the plural by adding "-ta" ("stigmata", "stomata") or "-s" ("stigmas", "stomas"). Often, it depends on the meaning attributed to the word; "stigmata" refers to the wounds that occur in some religious, while "stigmas" refers to psychic problems.
Use Plurals and Possessives in Writing Step 9Bullet3 - Some words ending in "-us", like "alumnus" or "radius", form the plural by dropping "-us" and adding "-i" ("alumni", "radii"), while others, like "genus" ", form the plural by replacing" -us "with" -era "(" generates "), and still others, such as" census ", form the plural by adding" -es "(" censuses ").
- Words ending in "-is", such as "axis" or "crisis", form the plural by transforming "-is" into "-es" ("axes", "crises"). Words ending in "-ex" or "-ix", such as "index" or "matrix", usually form the plural by replacing the last two letters with "-ices" ("indices", "matrices", although " indexes "is correct). Words ending in "-ies", such as "series" or "species", use the same form for both singular and plural.
Step 8. Learn to recognize plural forms that come from other languages
Many of the plural forms used in other languages have been adopted in the English language.
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Some French words ending in "-eau", such as "beau" or "tableau", form the plural by adding "-x" ("beaux", "tableaux"). Others, such as "bureau", usually take an "-s" ("bureaus").
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For some Hebrew words, such as "cherub" or "seraph", "-im" is added to the plural ("cherubim", "seraphim"), although they may also take "-s" if a specific number is mentioned (2 cherubs, 3 seraphs).
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Method 3 of 3: Possessive Forms
Step 1. Form the possessive of a common noun or singular proper noun by adding an apostrophe followed by an "s
"You can apply this rule to all singular nouns, ending in" s "or not, although some writers prefer not to add" s "after words or nouns that already end in" -s ", such as" boss "or" Charles "(for example," the boss 'instructions "or" Charles' father ").
Step 2. Form the possessive of a common noun or proper plural by adding an apostrophe only if it ends in "s" and an apostrophe followed by an "s" if it doesn't end in s
The possessive form of "lions" would be "lions '", while that of "children" would be "children's", as in the phrase "The children's toys fell into the lions' den at the zoo."
When a proper noun ends in "-s", be careful not to confuse the singular and plural possessive forms; the house belonging to Ernie and Suzanne Sears is "the Searses 'house", no "the" Sears' house. " indicate possession of the same.)
Step 3. Form the possessive of a personal pronoun without the apostrophe
The correct forms of the third person singular "he", "she" or "it" are "his", "hers" and "its", without the apostrophe. The correct forms of the first person singular "I" are "my" as an adjective and "mine" as a pronoun. Similarly, the possessive forms of the first person plural "we" are "our" and "ours" respectively; for "you", they are "your" and "yours" respectively; and for "they", they are "their" and "theirs" respectively.
Step 4. Put the apostrophe "-s" at the end of a compound name
While the first part of a compound noun, such as "daughter-in-law" or "attorney general", might take the plural, the possessive form is always added to the second part of the noun, as in "daughter-in-law's" or "attorney general's."
In the case of possessive plural, it would be correct to write "daughters-in-law's" or "attorneys general's", but it would be less confusing to show possession with a preposition, as in "of my daughters-in-law" or "of the attorneys general."
Step 5. Use the possessive form for the last name or all the names of a series, depending on what you want to indicate
If the object is common to all names, only the last is written with the possessive, as in "Batman and Robin's enemies had it in for them." If objects are treated separately, both names should be written with the possessive form: "Batman's and Robin's utility belts were each equipped to complement their different fighting styles."
