Le pluriel des noms
En règle générale, la forme plurielle du nom est construite en ajoutant un "-s" à la forme singulière:
shoe → shoes
book → books
river → rivers
Les mots se terminant en "s" ou "z" prendront généralement la terminaison "-es" :
bus → buses
kiss → kisses
Les mots se terminant en "-y" prendront généralement la terminaison "-ies" :
party → parties
supply → supplies
Certains mots sont irréguliers au pluriel :
one man → two men
one woman → two women
one person → two people
one foot → two feet
one mouse → two mice
one goose → two geese
one tooth → two teeth
one wife → two wives
one child → two children
one knife → two knives
one thief → two thieves
one dwarf → two dwarves (ou: dwarfs)
one potato → two potatoes
one leaf → two leaves
one life → two lives
one loaf → two loaves
one half → two halves
Certains mots rarissimes ne changent pas du tout au pluriel :
one moose → two moose
one sheep → two sheep
one aircraft → two aircraft
Les mots d'origine latine ou grecque qui ont retenu une terminaison antique se conformeront généralement à la forme plurielle de leur langue d'emprunt :
one alumnus → two alumni
one syllabus → two syllabi
one alumna → two alumnae
one alga → many algae
one criterion → many criteria
one forum → many fora (ou : forums)
one thesis → two theses
one hypothesis → two hypotheses
one phenomenon → two phenomena
one cactus → two cacti (ou : cactuses)
one diagnosis → two diagnoses
one oasis → two oases
one analysis → two analyses
EXERCISE:
Retrouver le pluriel de ces noms, sans regarder la liste ci-dessus: table, child, thief, mouse, potato, tooth, alga, goose, wife, sheep, life
REPONSES
tables, children, thieves, mice, women, potatoes, teeth, geese, sheep, lives