10. АНГЛИ ХЭЛНИЙ ТООНЫ АЙ
• A grammatical classification used in the
analysis of word classes which have
contrasts of singular and plural.
• Number contrasts in English are seen in
nouns (e.g. Boy boys), pronouns
(she, they, myself, ourselves, this, these),
determiners (this, these; each, all), and
verbs (say, says; was, were)
12. Үл хувирах ганц ба олон тоот
• Ганц тоот үл хувирах: үл тоологдох нэр
үг, бодит, үл тоологдох нэр үг
хийсвэр, оноосон нэр, -s төгсгөлтэй
зарим нэр үг, хийсвэр тэмдэг нэр
• Олон тоот үл хувирах: summation plurals
scissors, other pluralia tantum in –s
thanks; some plural proper name the
Netherlands; unmarked plural nouns
cattle, personal adjectival heads the rich;
13. Хувирах ганц ба олон тоо
• 1 regular plurals boy-boys буюу дүрэмт
олон тоо
• 2 irregular plurals буюу дүрэм бус олон
тоо voicing calf – calves; mutation foot-
feet; -EN plural ox-oxen; zero sheep-
sheep; foreign –us – i radius-radii; a-ae
larva-larvae; um-a stratum-strata; thesis-
theses; criterion-criteria; tempo-tempi;
14. Variable nouns
• Variable nouns have two forms, singular and
plural, the singular being the form listed in
dictionaries. The vast majority of nouns are
variable in this way and normally the plural (-s
suffix) is fully predictable both in sound and
spelling by the same rules as for the –s inflection
of verbs. Spelling creates numerous
exceptions, however. treatment of –y; nouns of
unusual form sometimes pluralize in „s; nouns in
-o have plural in –os, with some exceptions
having either optional or obligatory – oes;
15. Irregular plurals
• Irregular plurals are by definition
unpredictable and have to be learned as
individual items. In may cases where
foreign words are involved, it is of course
helpful to know about pluralization in the
relevant languages particularly Latin and
Greek. Thus, on the pattern of analysis-
analyses; we can infer the correct plurals:
axis-axes, basis-bases, crisis-crises etc,
16. Voicing + -S plural
• Some nouns which in the singular end in the voiceless
fricatives spelled –th and –f have voiced fricatives in
the plural, followed by /z/. In one case the voiceless
fricative is /s/ and the plural has /ziz/: house-houses.
• Nouns in –th: there is no change in spelling. With a
consonant before the –th, the plural is regular:
berth, birth, length etc. with a vowel before the –th, the
plural is again often regular, as with
cloth, death, faith, moth, but in a few cases the plural
has voicing (mouth, path)
• Nouns in –f(e): Plurals with voicing are spelled –ves.
Regular plural only: belief, chief, cliff, proof, roof, safe;
• Voiced plural only:
calf, elf, half, knife, leaf, life, loaf, self, sheaf, wolf etc.
17. Compounds
• Compounds form the plural in different
ways, but below is the most usual.
• Plural in first element: attorney general-
attorneys general, notary public – notaries
public, mother-in-law-mothers-in-law, grant-
in-aid – grants in aid;
• Plural in both first and last element:
gentlemen farmer – gentlemen farmers;
woman doctor-women doctors;
• Plural in last element: assistant director –
assistant directors,
18. Mutation
• Mutation involves a change of vowel in the
following seven nouns: foot feet, tooth
teeth, man men, woman women, mouse
mice, goose geese, louse lice
• With woman/women, the pronunciation
differs in the first syllable only, while
postman/postmen, Englishman/-men, etc
have no difference in pronunciation at all
between singular and plural.
19. The –EN plural or Zero plural
• This occurs in three nouns: brother -brethren
≈ fellow members of religious society, child-
children with vowel change /ai/ - /i/, ox oxen,
• Some nouns have the same spoken and
written form in both singular and plural. Note
the difference here between, on the one
hand, invariable nouns, which are either
singular or plural, and on the other, zero
plural nouns, which can be both singular and
plural. (this sheep looks small; All those
sheep are mine)
20. Animal names
• Animal names often have zero plurals. They tend to be
used partly by people who are especially concerned
with animals, partly when the animals are referred to
as game. Where there are two plurals, the zero plural
is the more common in contexts of hunting, etc. We
caught only a few fish, whereas the regular is used to
denote diiferent individuals or species. The fishes of
the Mediterranean.
• The Degree of variability with animal is shown by the
following lists: regular plural:
bird, cow, eagle, hen, rabbit etc. Usually regular:
elk, crab, duck, both plurals:
antelope, reindeer, fish, flounder, herring, usually zero:
pike, trout, carp, deer, moose; only zero:
grouse,sheep, plaice, salmon
21. Foreign plurals
• Foreign plurals often occur along with
regular plurals. They are commoner in
technical usage, whereas the –s plural
more natural in everyday language. Thus
formulas (general) formulae –in
mathematics, antennas (general and in
electronics) antennae -in biology
22. Англи хэлний тооны айн номзүй
• “A University Grammar of English”
Randolph Quirk, Sidney Greenbaum, 1973
• “The Oxford Dictionary of English
Grammar, Sylvia Chalker”, Edmund
Weiner,
• “Reference Guide to English: A Handbook
of English as a Second Language”
• “The Concise Oxford Dictionary of
Linguistics”, Peter Matthews, 2005