plural

Plurals of nouns are used to indicate when there is more than one person, place, animal, or thing.

The normal method for making nouns plural is to add an “-s” at the end of the noun.

If a noun ends in “-s,” “-x,” “-z,” or with a cluster of consonants, such as “-sh”, “-ch”, or “-tch” (as in “watch”), we add “-es” to render it plural.

When the noun ends in a “-y” and it is preceded by a consonant, we change “y” to “i” and add “-es.”

However, when a word ends in a “-y” preceded by a vowel, then we simply add an “-s” as usual.

There are some nouns that are irregular. They do not adhere to spelling rules, and so these need to be memorized.

plural

more than one in number; a plural word or form: dictionaries is the plural form of dictionary

Not to be confused with:

pleural – pertaining to the pleura, a serous membrane lining the thorax and enveloping the lungs: pleural pneumonia

plu·ral

(plo͝or′əl)

adj.

1. Relating to or composed of more than one member, set, or kind: the plural meanings of a text; a plural society.

2. Grammar Of or being a grammatical form that designates more than one of the things specified.

n. Grammar

1. The plural number or form.

2. A word or term in the plural form.

[Middle English plurel, from Old French, from Latin plūrālis, from plūs, plūr-, more; see pelə- in Indo-European roots.]

plu′ral·ly adv.

Our Living Language In English, plurals of nouns are normally indicated by the ending -s or -es, or in a few cases by -en, as in children and oxen. Some vernacular varieties of English do not use plural endings in measurement phrases such as three mile and ten pound. This zero plural has a long history and was not formerly as socially stigmatized as it is today. It appears in literary works dating from the Middle English period to the present day, including works of dialect writers, such as this example from Mark Twain's Huck Finn: "The nearest white settlement warnt nearer nor four mile." · In adjectival constructions even Standard English has no -s plural: a five-pound box of candy is acceptable, whereas a five-pounds box is not. These adjective phrases derive from an -a suffix in Old English that marked plural adjectives. This ending has long since fallen away, leaving behind the unmarked root forms. · The absence of -s in the plural form of animal names (hunting for bear, a herd of buffalo) probably arose by analogy with animals like deer and sheep whose plurals have been unmarked since the earliest beginnings of the English language. See Note at foot

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

plural

(ˈplʊərəl)

adj

1. containing, involving, or composed of more than one person, thing, item, etc: a plural society.

2. (Linguistics) denoting a word indicating that more than one referent is being referred to or described

(Grammar) grammar

a. the plural number

b. a plural form

[C14: from Old French plurel, from Late Latin plūrālis concerning many, from Latin plūs more]

ˈplurally adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

plu•ral

(ˈplʊər əl)

adj.

1. pertaining to or involving more than one.

2. pertaining to or involving a plurality of persons or things.

3. of or belonging to the grammatical category of number used to indicate that a word has more than one referent, as children or them, or in some languages more than two referents, as Old English ge “you.”

4. the plural number.

5. a word or other form in the plural. Abbr.: pl.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Latin plūrālis=plūr-, s. of plūs plus + -alis -al¹]

Translations

množné číslomnožný

flertalsformflertal

monikko

množinaplural

többes

fleirtala

複数

복수

pluralis

daugiskaita

daudzskaitlis

množné čísloplurál

množina

pluralpluralisflertal

พหูพจน์

số nhiều

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

plural

[ˈplʊərəl]

adj [noun, pronoun, form] → pluriel(le)

plural

adj

(Gram) → Plural-, Mehrzahl-; plural ending → Plural- or Mehrzahlendung f

(= diverse, pluralistic) society, system → pluralistisch

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

plural

(ˈpluərəl) noun, adjective

(in) the form of a word which expresses more than one. `Mice' is the plural of `mouse'; a plural noun/verb; Is the verb in the singular or the plural?

plural

→ جَمْع množné číslo flertalsform Plural πληθυντικός plural monikko pluriel množina plurale 複数 복수 meervoudsvorm flertallsform liczba mnoga plural множественное число plural พหูพจน์ çoğul số nhiều 复数

plural

a. gr. plural, más de uno en número.