Christmas Special: Forme neregulate de plural

În limba engleză, formăm pluralul substantivelor adăugând “-s” sau “-es” la finalul formei de singular. Acestea sunt formele regulate de plural.

Totuși, există substantive care se abat de la această regulă. Ne ocupăm în lecția de astăzi de cele mai întâlnite substantive cu forme neregulate de plural.

Ascultă următorul material audio și parcurge textul de mai jos.

It was the Christmas Eve and everybody was gathered around the Christmas tree. Many people were caroling outside our front door and father was praying to God they would stop.

Our neighbours’ children were bothering me continuously, so I kept sending them on wild-goose chases. They somehow managed to find all of the geese. For example, when I asked them to go upstairs and come back when they found Santa, they walked in on my uncle putting his Santa costume on. He was almost ready, but he didn’t have his shoes on yet, so they recognized his feet.

The kids were very disappointed and, while the men were teasing them and telling them to grow up, their more sensitive wives tried to explain how the real Santa was very busy on Christmas Eve. The kids eventually accepted the explanation and, soon, they were back on track, running around like crazy, knocking down shelves and howling like wolves.

Then the time came to open up the presents. Most men received winter scarves. “So you can stay warm”, according to their wives. Most women received kitchen knives. “So you can cook with pleasure”, according to their husbands. The children got various whatnots, from fake vampire teeth to complicated board games. Even the pets got something. Coco, our cat, received a set of toy mice. Winston, our Saint Bernard, received anti-lice shampoo.

When the family figured out that nobody had bought me anything, they looked at each other puzzled and then, one by one, they sneaked out of the room like thieves. They were extra nice to me afterwards, at dinner. I ended up eating two meatloaves all by myself and I also got both halves of a cake I was supposed to share with my brother.

Actually, I felt sick after the first meatloaf, but I wanted to make them feel less guilty. Father became so attentive to other people’s feelings that night, that he even invited the carolers in. After all, Christmas is a time of miracles.

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În continuare, găsești lista substantivelor cu forme neregulate de plural din textul de mai sus.

one man → two men
one woman → two women
one child → two children
one person → two people

one foot → two feet
one tooth → two teeth
one goose → two geese

one knife → two knives
one wife → two wives
one scarf → two scarves
one half → two halves
one wolf → two wolves
one loaf → two loaves
one shelf → two shelves
one thief → two thieves

one mouse → two mice
one louse → two lice

Pe lângă acestea, mai amintim un caz: cel al substantivelor de origine latină care, la singular, se termină în “-sis”. La plural, terminația acestor substantive devine “-ses” și apare o diferență de pronunție. Găsești mai multe detalii în cadrul explicațiilor audio.

one analysis → two analyses
one hypothesis → two hypotheses
one parenthesis → two parentheses
one thesis → two theses

Until next time, have a very merry Christmas!