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Monday, January 23, 2012

Number

To count the amount of persons/things/animal,number is used.There are two types of number.One is singular number and the rest is plural number.Singular number indicates a person/thing/animal.On other hand plural number indicates several/many persons/things/animals.


With a view to changing a singular number word into a plural number word,one needs to follow some guidelines.They are as bellows:-


1).Generally "-s" is added after a singular number word to make it a plural number word.For example,

singular.........plural

pen----------pens
book--------books
girl----------girls
dog---------dogs
boy----------boys

2).If there are "-s,sh,ss,ch,x,z" at the end of a singular number word and these letters are softly pronounced,"-es" will have to be added after the singular word to make it a plural word.i.e.

singular.........plural

bus----------buses
ass----------asses
dish---------dishes
branch------branches
box---------boxes
fez----------fezes

Exception:-If "-ch" at the end of a singular number word is pronounced hardly like "-k",only "-s" will be added to make it a plural word.i.e.

singular.........plural

monarch----monarchs
stomach----stomachs

3).If any singular number word ends with "-y" and there is a consonant before that "-y" ,this "-y" will be deleted and "-i" will be placed there instead of that "-y"and then "-es" will be added in plural number.

 singular.........plural

baby--------babies
story-------stories
fly---------flies
city-------cities

Exception:-If there is a vowel before the"-y" in any singular number word,only "-s" will be added in plural number.i.e.

 singular.........plural

toy----------toys
day---------days
monkey----monkeys
boy--------boys

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