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Mastering strange plurals

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
John Millen

I have problems remembering irregular plural nouns. Can you sort these out for me?

Some words change completely when they become plural and the only way not to make mistakes with this small group of nouns is to learn them and use them as often as you can.

There are not many such nouns, so it does not take long to remember them. It is annoying to get a really complicated sentence correct and then make a silly mistake by using a wrong plural noun.

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Let's have a look at irregular plurals and, at the same time, we'll look at a small group of nouns that are always used in the plural and never have a singular form.

The words in each of the three lists below are all mixed up. Can you sort out the lists? Put in your List 1 the nouns that are always used in the plural form. In your List 2, put the singular nouns that have irregular plurals and, in your List 3, put their new plural words.

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There is also one word in the lists that is the same in both the singular and plural forms. Pick it out and throw it away.

List 1: woman, men, children, glasses, jeans, pyjamas, surroundings, feet, teeth

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