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February 29, 2000
PLURAL ENDINGS
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Modern English evolved from Old English (800 to 1200 A.D.) which used "inflection" more than we do today. Inflection involves word changes WITHIN THE WORD rather than at the end for different verb tenses (e.g., past tense, present tense, etc.) or plurals (more than one). This week we're focusing on plural endings. Here are several words that use plural inflections:
child (singular)
children (plural)
knife (singular)
knives (plural)
man (singular)
men (plural)
shelf (singular)
shelves (plural)
wife (singular)
wives (plural)
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Inflections are the exception rather than the rule for plural words. Most words simply add "s" at the end to show plurals:
dog (singular)
dogs (plural)
house (singular)
houses (plural)
worker (singular)
workers (plural)
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Words ending in "s," "ch," "sh," "x," or "z" add "es" at the end to show plurals:
bus (singular)
buses (plural)
church (singular)
churches (plural)
witness (singular)
witnesses (plural)
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Words ending in "o" also add "es" if a CONSONANT precedes the "o":
tomato (singular)
tomatoes (plural)
veto (singular)
vetoes (plural)
But add only an "s" if a VOWEL precedes the "o":
cameo (singular)
cameos (plural)
ratio (singular)
ratios (plural)
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For words ending in "y" (except for proper names--Davy, Sally, Judy), change the "y" to "ies" if the "y" is preceded by a CONSONANT:
chemistry (singular)--"y" is preceded by the "r" consonant, so change the "y" to "ies" for the plural ending: chemistries
forty (singular)--"y" is preceded by the "t" consonant, so change the "y" to "ies" for the plural ending: forties
strategy (singular)--"y" is preceded by the "g" consonant, so change the "y" to "ies" for the plural ending: strategies
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But add only an "s" if the "y" is preceded by a VOWEL:
envoy (singular)--"y" is preceded by the "o" vowel, so add an "s" for the plural ending: envoys
foray (singular)--"y" is preceded by the "a" vowel, so add an "s" for the plural ending: forays
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FOR PRACTICE:
Make plurals of the following words: wolf, fork, potato, rodeo, address, party, patio, fish, ax.
For the correct answers, visit our web site at http://www.grammarcheck.com/answers229.htm
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WRITING TIP: ELIMINATE "TO BE" VERBS
Today we begin a series of writing tips that can make your writing more professional. Part One of this first tip is to eliminate "to be" verbs (is, are, was, were, to be, be, being, been) WHEN POSSIBLE.
Readers dislike wordiness, and the presence of "to be" verbs often indicates a wordy passage. For your most efficient writing, eliminate "to be" verbs whenever possible.
Note: Do not attempt to eliminate "to be" verbs when writing a first draft. Doing so can cause writer's block. Eliminate these words during the editing stage of your writing.
EXAMPLES:
Mr. Talbot IS planning to invite everyone to his home for dinner.
Mr. Talbot plans to invite everyone to his home for dinner.
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We ARE expecting to make a change in personnel before the first of the year.
We expect to make a change in personnel before the first of the year.
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It IS customers like you who keep our business running at top performance.
Customers like you keep our business running at top performance.
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How IS your writing effectiveness when you ARE working under pressure?
How does working under pressure affect your writing?
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FOR PRACTICE:
1. Choose a one-page letter or one page from a multi-page document you have written.
2. Circle all "to be" verbs in the document.
3. Try to eliminate at least half of those circled verbs.
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YOUR GRAMMAR AND WRITING QUESTIONS:
QUESTION: Please tell me about passive voice--its usage and structure.
GRAMMARCHECK: Passive voice exchanges a sentence's subject with its object, adding a "to be" verb construction and prepositional phrase using "by":
ACTIVE VOICE: The car hit the dog.
The car (subject) hit the dog (object).
PASSIVE VOICE: The dog was hit by the car.
The dog (subject position) was hit ("to be" verb + hit) by the car (object position).
Active voice is recommended for most writing; eliminating "to be" verbs is one way to help assure your writing is in active voice. However, when you need to stress the object of an event, you can use passive voice for emphasis.
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QUESTION: What is the exact usage of these words: later, latter, former?
GRAMMARCHECK: Here are examples of each:
LATER is a time reference often used to show comparison between two time periods:
Jim came home at 8 p.m., but Brenda arrived later.
Jim came home at 8 p.m. (1st time period), but Brenda arrived later (2nd time period).
Inferred time periods: Jim came home at 8 p.m. (1st time period), but Brenda arrived later than 8 p.m. (2nd time period).
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His boss got to work later than usual.
His boss got to work later (1st time period) than usual (2nd time period).
Inferred time periods: His boss got to work later (1st time period) than his usual time of 8 p.m. (2nd time period).
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My Spanish class starts later than his.
My Spanish class starts later (1st time period) than his (2nd time period).
Inferred time periods: My Spanish class starts later (1st time period) than his 2 p.m. class (2nd time period).
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LATTER serves as a pronoun in making reference to a second item which comes after the first:
Of the two insurance plans offered, I chose the latter.
(I chose the SECOND INSURANCE PLAN which comes after the first.)
Bill endorsed the first candidate while I supported the latter.
(I supported the SECOND CANDIDATE.)
The latter explanation seemed more clear than the first.
(The SECOND EXPLANATION was more clear.)
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FORMER refers to the one previous, sort of an opposite to "latter." It means the one that came before or the one that used to be:
Sam's former wife now works at his company.
(She USED TO BE Sam's wife.)
Our former president, Ronald Reagan, recently celebrated a birthday.
(He USED TO BE our president.)
I like the former salary plan more than the latter one.
(I like the plan THAT CAME BEFORE the last one.)
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