Peculiar Plurals: origin and uses

Uncountable Nouns Countable Nouns

List of Countable and Uncountable Nouns

accommodation a place to live (NOT an accommodation)

baggage a piece/item of baggage; a case/trunk/bag

bread a piece/loaf of bread; a loaf; a roll

chess a game of chess

chewing gum a piece of chewing gum (NOT a chewing gum)

equipment a piece of equipment; a tool etc

furniture a piece/article of furniture; a table, chair etc

information a piece of information

knowledge a fact

lightning a flash of lightning

luck a piece/bit/stroke of luck

luggage a piece/item of luggage; a case/trunk/bag

money a note; a coin; a sum

news a piece of news

permission –

poetry a poem

progress a step forward; an advance

publicity an advertisement

research a piece of research; an experiment

rubbish a piece of rubbish

slang a slang word/expression

thunder a clap of thunder

traffic cars etc

vocabulary a word/expression

work a job; a piece of work

Man, men, etc. The eight Plurals are called Mutation-plurals, because they are formed by a change or mutation of the inside vowel of the singular. Once there were many more such plurals than there are now. The original plural of man was "mann-is". The "i" in the ending -is had the effect of changing the a of mann or man into a sound more like itself; thus mann-is became menn-is. The effect of "/" in thus changing the preceding vowel is called Vowel-mutation in English and Umlaut in Ger­man. When the -is was dropped, nothing but the vowel-change was left to distinguish the Plural from the Singular. This Muta­tion-method became obsolete when the Anglo-Saxon system of grammar decayed.

Ox, oxen, etc. The four Plurals are formed by a process that is now as obsolete as that of vowel-mutation. In Old English -an (now written -en) was not as common as a then Plural ending -as (now written -es or -s). But -as or -es became much more common when the decay of Anglo-Saxon was setting in. After­wards, when French influence had begun to work (about 200 years after the Norman Conquest), the French Plural in -s helped to drive the nail home, so that -s or -es became eventually the sign of the Plural for almost all our nouns.

Foreign Plurals. We have some Plurals which have been borrowed direct from foreign nouns:

Latin Plurals: from -urn (sing.) to -a (plur.); addend-a, agend-a, dat-a, errat-a, strat-a, memorand-a (or memorand-ums); from -us

True Singulars used as Plurals. - By a "True Singular" we mean that the final "s" is part of the original Singular noun, and not a sign of the Plural.

Such nouns, though Singular by etymology, are liable to be considered Plural on account of the final "s"; and all except the first of these named below are now always used as if they were Plural.

Summons (Fr. semonce). - This noun is still correctly used as a Singular; as "I received a summons to attend"; "This sum­mons reached me to-day." The plural form is summonses.

Alms (A.S. selmesse). - "He asked an alms" (New Testa­ment). But now the word is generally used as if it were Plural; as, "I gave alms to the beggar, and for these he thanked me."

Eaves (A.S. efese). - The edge or lower borders of the roof of a house. The word is now always used as a Plural; as, "The eaves are not yet finished."

Riches (Fr. Richesse). - This too is really a Singular; as, "In one hour is so great riches come to naught (New Testament); but now, on account of the final s, this noun is always used as a Plural; as, "Riches do not last for ever."

Cherries (Mid. Eng. cheris): cf. Latin, ceras-us, - The s looked so like a Plural ending, that a Singular cherry was coined.

Peas (A.S. pis-a. Singular). - When the a was lost, the fi­nal s looked like a Plural; so a Singular pea was coined; "The vaunting poets found nought worth a pease". - SPENCER. "Of the bigness of a great peaze. - RALEIGH, Hist. World (Spelt with a 2 by Raleigh, because it was so pronounced).

True Plurals used as Singulars. - In such nouns the final s is really a sign of the Plural:

Amends. - This is sometimes used as a Singular and sometimes as a Plural: as, "An honourable amends" (ADDISON).

Means. - This is now almost always used as a Singular; as, "By this means".

News. - This is now almost always used as a Singular; as, "111 news runs apace." Mid. Eng. new-es (plural); French nouvelles.

Innings. - This is a word used in cricket to denote the turn for going in and using the bat. It is always used as a Singular; as, "We have not yet had an innings"; "Our eleven beat the other by an innings and ten runs."

Gallows. - The framework from which criminals are hanged. This noun is used as a Singular; as, "They fixed up a gal­lows."

Odds. - A word used in betting to denote the difference of one wager against another. "We gave him a heavy odds against ourselves."

Sledge. - A respelling of sleds, plural of sled, which is still used in Canada for "sledge". This is always used as Singular: "A sledge (сани, они) is sliding down the slope".

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