Quick Answer Words English borrowed from French ending in -eau can add a silent -x: one bureau, two bureaux. Adding a normal -s is also correct, and more common in everyday English. The -x is silent either way. See the Pattern First Both endings are accepted. Listen — they sound identical. One bureau, two bureaux…
Quick Answer Ordinary English words ending in -x just add -es: one fox, two foxes. Latin words have a second, formal plural in -ices: one index, two indices. Both are correct — they are used in different fields. See the Pattern First The everyday words are easy. The Latin ones have two lives. One fox,…
Quick Answer Latin words ending in -a have a formal plural in -ae: one formula, two formulae. In everyday English, the simple -as form is equally correct — and far more common. See the Pattern First Most of these words have two accepted plurals. Context decides. In maths class: two formulae. In a shop: two…
Quick Answer Most everyday words ending in -o add -es: one potato, two potatoes. Newer or shortened words just add -s: photos, pianos, zeros. There is a simple test to tell them apart. See the Pattern First Two groups, side by side. One potato, two potatoes. One tomato, two tomatoes. One hero, two heroes. One…
Quick Answer A small group of very old English words change the vowel inside instead of adding an ending: one foot, two feet; one tooth, two teeth. There are only eight of them in everyday English — and you already know most. See the Pattern First Listen to the vowel change in the middle of…
Quick Answer Some English nouns look exactly the same for one and for many: one deer, two deer. You do not add anything. The words around them — one/two, is/are, this/these — tell the reader how many there are. See the Pattern First Nothing changes on the noun. Everything changes around it. One deer is…
Quick Answer Words from Latin ending in -um and Greek words ending in -on change the ending to -a: one curriculum, two curricula; one phenomenon, two phenomena. See the Pattern First Four sentences. Watch the ending change from -um or -on to -a. The school changed one curriculum. It changed both curricula. That is a…
Quick Answer Words from Latin ending in -us often change to -i: one cactus, two cacti. But English now accepts the simple -uses form for most of them too — and for a few words, the Latin form is plain wrong. See the Pattern First Look at how these behave. Notice that some have two…
Quick Answer Words that end in -is change the i to an e: one analysis, two analyses. These words come from Greek and appear a lot in school, university and news writing. See the Pattern First Read these sentences. Look at the endings in blue. One crisis is bad. Two crises are worse. The doctor…
Quick Answer Most English words ending in -f or -fe change to -ves in the plural. One knife becomes two knives. One leaf becomes many leaves. But four common words break this rule — you will learn them below. See the Pattern First Read these four sentences. Look at the words in blue. I have…
