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More on plurals

More on plurals

More on plurals

(OP)
Is there a general rule for the plurals of cargo, commando, dynamo, echo, embargo, embryo, folio, ghetto, hero, mosquito, motto, no, piano, potato, silo, studio, tornado, torpedo, veto, as examples ? In short when do the plurals end in -oes, and when in -os. Thanks.

RE: More on plurals

You had to ask. Now I'm going to be wondering until someone posts the answer.

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RE: More on plurals

I always thought if the singular word ended with -oe the plural is -oes. (e.g. toe...toes, shoe...shoes)
Not 100% sure

RE: More on plurals

My understanding (generally) is that when a consonant preceeds o then it is es otherwise s. I have yet to find a plural for No.

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RE: More on plurals

Quark,

I agree with what you pointed out. Examples would be potato (potatoes) or tomato (tomatoes) unless you are speaking to Dan Quayle who spells potato as potatoe

ietech

RE: More on plurals

(OP)
If so, why do we write commandos, dynamos, silos, pianos, embryos, ghettos ?

RE: More on plurals

25362,

Good point.

I have been searching for a rule to address this and have found nothing. Maybe it's something we learn and repeat from memory. You would think there would be some guideline to cover this. I'll keep looking and post it if I find anything.

Regards,

ietech

RE: More on plurals

Fowler gives no fewer than 6 guideline rules for forming the plurals of nouns ending in "o":

1. When a vowel precedes the final -o, then the plural usually ends in -os. (videos)

2. The plural of animal or plant names ending in -o usually ens in -oes. (tomatoes)

3. Words that are contractions of other words invariably end in -os. (hippos)

4. Foreign words and borrowed words end in -os. (boleros)

5. Multi-syllable words tend to end in -os. (manifestos)

6. Proper names forming plurals end in -os. (Romeos)

(Note that several of these "rules" contain a qualifier such as "generally"!)

For other cases, practice varies, and the preferred ending seems to be a matter of consensus or convention rather than rule.

RE: More on plurals

(OP)
I remember having read, I think in this forum, that the plural for index is indices.

From what I saw elsewhere indexes is the preferred plural of index (of books) and indices is the correct plural for indicators and index numbers.

Any comments ?

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