occasional observations on English pronunciation features, phonetics, teaching and learning
Monday 22 July 2013
From plural to singular
credit: Colin_K
Many English nouns can be pluralised by adding <s>, e.g. cat+s, dog+s. Did you know there's an English word which changes from plural to singular by adding <s>?
I had (mis-)understood that the singular and plural must at least potentially refer to the same item. But a princess can't be a prince, and vice versa. Should have read the question more carefully :)
If anyone used "brass" as an abbreviation for "brassiere", then "bras" would be its plural.
ReplyDeleteSorry -- that's the best I've got :)
bicep?
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: 'bicep' as an English word doesn't seem to exist. It's not listed in the OED.
DeleteWell, I was... befuddled, to say the least, and then... HA!
ReplyDeleteAhhh -- very clever.
ReplyDeleteI had (mis-)understood that the singular and plural must at least potentially refer to the same item. But a princess can't be a prince, and vice versa. Should have read the question more carefully :)
Under these rules, I can find another example:
caress - cares
There are probably several others.
@vp: do publish more of these!
ReplyDelete