SPELLING RULES
-Plurals of Nouns
(a) dress, dresses (b) chair, chairs
splash, splashes wave, waves
business, businesses book, books
church, churches pencil, pencils
fox, foxes paper, papers
The usual way of forming the plural of English nouns is illustrated by the words in column (b) above. What is it?
If you add s to the singular form dress, could you distinguish the pronunciation of the plural from the pronunciation of the singular? Does this suggest a reason for adding es to form the plural?
How many syllables must you use to pronounce the plural of fox? Does this suggest another reason for adding es to form the plural?
Every word that ends in a sibilant or hissing sound (ch, s, sh, ss, x, z) forms its plural like fox. Give several llustrations.
Rule 1.--Nouns regularly form the plural by adding s, but those ending in a sibilant must addes.
(a) lady, ladies (b) valley, valleys
ally, allies alley, alleys
soliloquy, soliloquies journey, journeys
Name five words belonging to group (a) above. Does a vowel or a consonant precede the y in each case?
Name other words belonging to the group (b) above. Does a vowel or a consonant precede the y in each case?
Rule 2.--Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant (and nouns ending in quy) form the plural by changing y to i and addinges.
Words ending in o
(a)
potato, potatoes hero, heroes mulatto, mulattoes
tomato, tomatoes buffalo, buffaloes cargo, cargoes
negro, negroes echo, echoes motto, mottoes
(b)
solo, solos piano, pianos memento, mementos
halo, halos lasso, lassos canto, cantos
zero, zeros quarto, quartos soprano, sopranos
stilletto, stillettos
The older English words ending in o form the plural by adding es, as in potatoes; those more recently taken into the language form the plural by adding s, as in quartos.
Nouns in f and fe
leaf, leaves calf, calves wife, wives
loaf, loaves sheaf, sheaves shelf, shelves
half, halves wolf, wolves elf, elves
life, lives beef, beeves wharf, wharves (or wharfs)
self, selves knife, knives
With the exception of the words given above, nouns ending in an f sound form the plural in the regular way; as,
hoof, hoofs scarf, scarfs beliefs, beliefs
chief, chiefs reef, reefs grief, griefs
Irregular Plurals
Some nouns form their plural by a change of vowel; as,
man men foot feet
woman women tooth teeth
goose geese mouse mice
A few words retain the old time plural en; as,
brother brethren
child children ox oxen
A few words are the same in both singular and plural; as,
sheep, trout, deer
Some nouns have two plurals which differ in meaning; as,
Singular Plural
brother brothers brethren
penny pennies pence
pea peas pease
die dies dice
Consult a dictionary for the difference in meaning between the two plurals of each word.
Compound Nouns
Singular Plural
brother-in-law brothers-in-law
father-in-law fathers-in-law
court-martial courts-martial
commander-in-chief commanders-in-chief
man-of-war men-of-war
major general major generals
goose quill goose quills
bill of fare bills of fare
spoonful spoonfuls
cupful cupfuls
Rule 3.Compound nouns usually add the sign of the plural to the fundamental part of the word.
NOTE.--In spoonfuls the thought is of one spoon many times full.
Plural of Letters and Figures
Rule 4.--Letters and figures form the plural by adding the apostrophe (') and s; as,
a a's 3 3's
w w's 5 5's
The same rule applies to the plural of words which ordinarily have no plural; as,
Don't use so many and's and if's.
Foreign Plurals
Some nouns derived from foreign languages retain their original plural.
The following are in common use.
Consult a dictionary for their pronunciation and definition.
Singular Plural Singular Plural
crisis crises stratum strata
thesis theses radius radii
hypothesis hypotheses parenthesis parentheses
focus foci synopsis synopses
datum data basis bases
alumnus alumni automaton automata
alumna alumnae analysis analyses
oasis oases nucleus nuclei
axis axes phenomenon phenomena
genus genera
Some words admit of two plurals, one the foreign plural, and one the regular English plural; as,
Singular Plural
beau beaux beaus
formula formulae formulas
vertex vertices vertexes
index indices indexes
cherub cherubim cherubs
seraph seraphim seraphs
bandit banditti bandits
Consult a dictionary to see whether there is any difference of meaning between the two plurals of these words.
The Formation of Participles
Rap, rapping, rapped Reap, reaping, reaped
Rap is a monosyllable ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel. The final consonant in such words is doubled before a suffix beginning with a vowel is added.
In reap the final consonant is not doubled because it is preceded by two vowels.
Make the participles of the following verbs:
chat lap suit step
cheat leap sit steep
rot train sop trot
root trim soap treat
Trap, trapping, trapped Track, tracking, tracked
Why is the final consonant in trap doubled before ing or ed is added?
The final consonant in track is not doubled because track ends with two consonants.
Pin, pinning Pine, pining
Pine drops the silent e because the tendency in English is to drop endings that are not needed for pronunciation before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel.
Form the participles of the following verbs:
knot rob flop
note robe elope
deal swim quit (u is not here a vowel)
clap strike crawl (w is here a vowel)
stop oil wax (x equals cks)
peal rush bow (w is here a vowel)
applies also to words of more than one syllable accented on the last syllable, if they retain the accent on the same syllable after the suffix is added. Thus we have
=Rule 5.--Monosyllables or words accented on the last syllable, ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, double the final consonant before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel.=
Form participles from the following words that are accented on the last syllable:
prefer intervene escape expel
refer reveal acquire contain
occur repeal secure forbid
permit pursue conceal incur
interfere erase arrange forget
retain control acquit repel
Form participles from the following words not accented on the last syllable:
benefit travel marvel shelter
revel answer exhibit render
quarrel profit shovel limit
Words in which the accent changes do not double the final consonant before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel; as,
confer conference infer inference
refer reference prefer preferable
Explain why the final consonant is not doubled in each of the following words:
neglect neglecting lean leaning
prefer preference select selecting
creep creeping receipt receipting
wonder wondering answer answering
=Rule 6.--In forming the present participle of verbs ending in y, retain the y before adding ing; as,=
study studying obey obeying
carry carrying convey conveying
pity pitying
In forming the perfect participle, if in the present tense the y is preceded by a consonant, the y is changed to i and ed added; if the y is preceded by a vowel, the y is retained; as,
study studied carry carried pity pitied
but
obey obeyed convey conveyed
Compare with Rule 2.
=Rule 7.--In words containing a long e sound spelled either ie or ei, ei follows c; ie follows one of the other consonants; as,=
ei ie
deceive relieve siege
perceive believe yield
receive belief grief
conceive chief field
conceit priest piece
receipt niece wield
reprieve lien
Exceptions.--Either, neither, weird, seize, leisure.
The following couplet may help in remembering when to write ie and when to write ei:
When the letter c you spy,
Put the e before the i.
The Pronunciation of c and g
The letter c is pronounced sometimes like s and sometimes like k.
What sound does c have before a? Illustrate.
Before e? Illustrate.
Before i? Illustrate.
Before o? Illustrate.
Before u? Illustrate.
Before y? Illustrate.
If c is pronounced like k, it is called hard and is marked [\c].
If c is pronounced like s, it is called soft and is marked ç. The mark used to indicate the soft c is called the cedilla.
Make a statement telling when c is hard and when it is soft.
What sound does g have before each of the vowels, as in game, gone, gymnasium, Gunther, gentle?
=Rule 8.--C and g usually are soft before e, i, and y.=
Words ending in silent e, according to Rule 5, drop the e before a suffix beginning with a vowel. Exceptions occur when the e is needed to preserve the soft sound of c and g. Tell why e is dropped in encouraging and retained in courageous.
In words containing dg, as in judge and lodge, the d gives the g the soft sound, and there is no need to retain the e before adding a suffix, as in judgment.
=Rule 9.--Words ending in silent e usually drop the e before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel, unless the e is needed to preserve the pronunciation; as after soft c and g, when the suffix begins with a or o.=
Tell why the e is retained before the suffix in the following:
noticeable damageable pronounceable outrageous
courageous peaceable serviceable manageable
Tell why the e is dropped before adding the suffix in the following:
managing curable erasure
besieging admirable realization
receiving obliging precedence
perseverance
The fact that c has two different sounds causes a slight peculiarity in words ending in c. Final c has the sound of k. When words end in c, the letter k is usually added before a suffix beginning with either e, i, or y, to show that c is not pronounced like s; as,
frolic frolicked frolicking
If the k is not added, the c changes its pronunciation; as,
public publicity
It follows by inference from Rule 9 that words ending in silent e retain the e before a suffix beginning with a consonant; as,
move movement disgrace disgraceful
defense defenseless fate fateful
arrange arrangement fierce fiercely
noise noiseless manage management
severe severely rude rudeness
Exceptions.--Truly, duly, wisdom, awful, wholly.
Bring to class a list of twenty words that retain the final e before a suffix beginning with a consonant.
What spelling rule does each of the following words illustrate?
advantageous gigantic boxes admittance
mimicking piece libraries occurrence
arrangement receipt keys acquittal
Abbreviations
Write abbreviations for the months of the year. Are there any that should not be abbreviated?
The abbreviations for the states and territories are:
Alabama, Ala. Maryland, Md.
Arizona, Ariz. Massachusetts, Mass.
Arkansas, Ark. Michigan, Mich.
California, Cal. Minnesota, Minn.
Colorado, Colo. Mississippi, Miss.
Connecticut, Conn. Missouri, Mo.
Delaware, Del. Montana, Mont.
District of Columbia, D.C. Nebraska, Nebr.
Florida, Fla. Nevada, Nev.
Georgia, Ga. New Hampshire, N.H.
Idaho, Idaho New Mexico, N. Mex.
Illinois, Ill. New York, N.Y.
Indiana, Ind. New Jersey, N.J.
Iowa, Ia. North Carolina, N.C.
Kansas, Kans. North Dakota, N. Dak.
Kentucky, Ky. Ohio, O.
Louisiana, La. Oklahoma, Okla.
Maine, Me. Oregon, Ore.
Pennsylvania, Pa. Utah, Utah
Philippine Islands, P.I. Vermont, Vt.
Porto Rico, P.R. Virginia, Va.
South Carolina, S.C. Washington, Wash.
South Dakota, S.D. Wisconsin, Wis.
Tennessee, Tenn. West Virginia, W. Va.
Texas, Tex. Wyoming, Wyo.
NOTE.--It is much better to write the full name rather than the abbreviation whenever the former would make
the address clearer, especially as regards similar abbreviations, such as Cal. and Colo.
Abbreviations of Commercial Terms
A 1, first class doz., dozen
@, at E. & O.E., errors and omissions
excepted
acct., account ea., each
adv., advertisement e.g., for example
agt., agent etc., and so forth
a.m., forenoon exch., exchange
amt., amount ft., foot
app., appendix f.o.b., free on board
atty., attorney gal., gallon
av., average i.e., that is
avoir., avoirdupois imp., imported
bal., balance in., inches
bbl., barrel inst., this month (instant)
B/L, bill of lading Jr., junior
bldg., building kg., keg
B/S, bill of sale lb., pound
bu., bushel ltd., limited
C.B., cash book mdse., merchandise
C., hundred mem., memorandum
coll., collection, collector mo., month
Co., company M.S. (MSS)., manuscript
C.O.D., cash on delivery mtg., mortgage
cr., creditor N.B., take notice
cwt., hundredweight no., number
D., five hundred O.K., all right
dept., department per, by
disc., discount p.m., afternoon
do., ditto %, per cent
dr., debtor, debit St., street
pkg., package str., steamer
pp., pages ult., last month
pr., pair U.S.M., United States Mail
pc., piece viz., namely
pk., peck vol., volume
prox., next month W/B, way bill
pt., pint wt., weight
Sr., senior
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