The ‘s’ inflection is pronounced [s] after non sibilant voiceless consonants ([t], [p], [f], [k], [][]. Examples: cats [k], pots.
The ‘s’ inflection is pronounced [z] after non sibilant voiced sounds: voiced consonants ([d], [b], [v], [w], [g], [l], [m], [n], [ð]) and vowel sounds. Ex.: dogs, knobs, bees, chairs clothes
b) Irregular plural of nouns ending in sibilant or hushing sounds (“sifflantes” et
“chuintantes”) After a sibilant or hushing sound, the ‘s’ inflection of the plural becomes ‘es’ and is pronounced [iz]: box boxes ash ashes match matches.
When, in a singular noun, the hissing or hushing sound ends in ‘e’, the plural is morphologically regular (there is no additional ‘e’) and only phonetically irregular (only the pronunciation changes to become [iz]): bridge bridges judge judges horse horses).
NB: Because they erroneously think that “clothes” is the plural of “cloth” (the two words don’t mean the same!) some people pronounce “clothes” [kluðiz] whereas the correct pronunciation of the word is [kluðz] (and that of “cloth” is [kl]).
c) Irregular plural with major orthographical alterations
Some nouns with an irregular plural are of German origin (child children, foot feet, etc.), others have a Latin origin (phenomenon phenomena, medium media), a Greek origin (thesis theses, analysis analyses, etc.). Some examples of orthographical alterations in the plural
d) Nouns whose plural is similar to the singular (invariable nouns)
a sheep many sheep a swine many swine a craft many craft a means many means a series many series a species many species
e) Singular invariable nouns (no-plural nouns)
-ics nouns (names of subjects, sciences, etc.)
Mathematics Linguistics Ethics Phonetics Gymnastics, etc. French : « les mathématiques sont ... ». English: “Mathematics is ...”
Some games, diseases, etc.
Draughts ([drɑːft] jeu de dame) billiards (le billard) measles (rougeole) crossroads (carrefour) Barracks (caserne) works (usine) gallows (le gibet), etc.
Names of countries “The United States is …”, “The Philippines has…”, “The Netherlands was…”, etc. French: « Les États-Unis ont ... », « Les Philippines ont ... », etc.
Plural invariable nouns (“plural-only” or “no-singular” nouns)
- Summation plurals: trousers shorts scissors spectacles scales jeans, etc. 2 - Other plural-only nouns Cattle (“the cattle are …”) poultry vermin
Other plural-only nouns ending in “s”
Goods Contents (table of contents = table des matières) morals stairs Damages (in the legal sense of money: to claim damages) accommodations funds archives bowels clothes customs premises (place, room) wages
The case of the “collective” nouns
o Many nouns referring to collective notions (family, government, police, etc.) are most of the time used as plural nouns. The reason is that we often refer to the members of the group rather than to the group as a unity. o For instance, when I say “The police are talking to some eye-witnesses”, “The police have sealed off the area”, “There should be more police patrolling the streets of the city”, I refer to the policemen or policewomen (several entities). Other English collective nouns generally used with the plural: government team family audience firm staff company committee
Examples The family have accepted to pay the ransom. (La famille a accepté ...) The audience was stunned by this scene of violence. (Le public était stupéfait par ... ) The Senegalese government are determined to take up the challenge. ( ... est déterminé à ...)
o People sometimes use a plural verb after the name of sports teams or business companies: Senegal have played Germany and have won. (Senegal = the Senegalese team) The Korean Samsung® have announced that their latest smartphone sells well. o However, in most of these cases of collective nouns, the use of the singular verb is acceptable. One can say: the family has / is .... Senegal has / is ........... the government has / is ......... etc. o “The police” can be used with a singular verb only when we refer to the institution, not to the police agents: Ex.: The federal police is complaining that…”
“Noncount” nouns (also called “uncount nouns” or “uncounts”) (=“noms
indénombrables”) Many notions accepting the plural in a tongue may not accept it in another. For instance, while many of their French equivalents accept the plural, the following English notions don’t accept the plural (they can’t be counted in English):
advice damage homework progress
anger experience information research applause fish knowledge shopping baggage fruit leisure software behaviour fun luggage traffic business furniture photography work chess violence
3 NB: “fish” is an uncount noun when used to refer to the flesh eaten as food: - they cook /eat fish everyday - fish is very expensive now. “fish” is a count noun (accepts the plural) when we refer to this aquatic creature itself. In this case, the plural can be either “fish” (invariable plural) or “fishes”. The latter form is rather old and is generally used when referring to the fish species. - Yesterday I caught several fish (or “several fishes” in old-fashioned English) - “The old man had seen many great fish” (from Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea) - In Mbour, one can find a large variety of fish (or “fishes”, as we refer here to fish species).
One can say “fruits” (plural) when using the term figuratively (“the fruits of my work”) or referring to the species (“mango and banana are tropical fruits”)
2. GENDER IN ENGLISH a) Dual (non differentiated) gender “Dual gender” refers to the cases where the male and the female bear the same name or title. EG. a male/female teacher, cook, doctor, person, friend, cousin, Italian, inhabitant, singer, Jew (sometimes the woman Jew is called “Jewess”)
b) Differentiated gender
Morphologically marked gender
The name of the female seems to derive morphologically from that of the male: Hero heroine god goddess waiter waitress Prince princess host hostess tiger tigress Lion lioness actor actress poet poetess In some cases, it is the name of the male which seems to derive from that of the female: the male is marked: Widow (female) widower (male) bride (female) bridegroom (male) cat (female) tomcat (male).
Morphologically unmarked gender
The name of the male is morphologically different from that of the female
boy girl garcon / fille bachelor spinster célibataire homme /femme
monk nun moine / religieuse dog bitch chien / chienne gander goose jars / oie stallion mare étalon / jument fox vixen renard / renarde king queen roi / reine father mother père / mère ram ewe bélier / brebis nephew niece neveu / nièce cock hen coq / poule bull cow taureau / vache
NB: Remember that “bitch” is often used very pejoratively in informal English (= “une putain”).
c) Gender of names of countries and cities
4 As geographical units, they usually have the neutral gender: “it…”, “its…” France is quite large. Its area is much larger than…
As political and economic units, they often have the feminine gender o Britain has developed her production…
The female gender is also sometimes given to names of vehicles and ships o The Titanic sank not long after she was built.
3. MAKING COMPOUND NOUNS (“noms composés”)
Some compounds are made by adding a deverbal (=derived from the verb) noun to the subject a headache a toothache rainfall earthquake landslide beestings nightfall heartbeat Sunrise sunset, etc. These deverbal nouns are derived from the verbs: to ache, to fall, to quake, to slide, to sting, etc.
Some compounds are made by adding a subject to the verb
A hangman a watchdog a playboy
A hangman = a man who hangs, a watchdog = a dog that watches, etc.
Some compounds are made by adding the subject to an “ing” verbal noun A firing squad, a washing machine, etc.
Some compounds are made by adding a deverbal noun to the object
A birth-control a haircut a handshake a self-control, etc.
Some compounds are made by adding an “ing” verbal noun to the object Air-conditioning brainwashing sightseeing
Some compounds are made by adding an adverbial noun to an “ing” verbal noun A hiding-place a waiting room a walking machine A sewing machine a frying pan a cooking pot
Some compounds are made by adding a noun to an adjective
A blackboard a madman a blackbird (un merle) grey matter a hothouse
