Дипломная работа: Nouns
· more than one focus = foci
· more than one fungus = fungi
· more than one cactus = cacti (cactuses is acceptable)
· more than one thesis = theses
· more than one crisis = crises*
· more than one phenomenon = phenomena
· more than one index = indices (indexes is acceptable)
· more than one appendix = appendices (appendixes is acceptable)
· more than one criterion = criteria
A handful of nouns appear to be plural in form but take a singular verb:
· The news is bad.
· Gymnastics is fun to watch.
· Economics/mathematics/statistics is said to be difficult. ("Economics" can sometimes be a plural concept, as in "The economics of the situation demand that . . . .")
Numerical expressions are usually singular, but can be plural if the individuals within a numerical group are acting individually:
· Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money.
· One-half of the faculty is retiring this summer.
· One-half of the faculty have doctorates.
· Fifty percent of the students have voted already.
And another handful of nouns might seem to be singular in nature but take a plural form and always use a plural verb:
· My pants are torn. (Nowadays you will sometimes see this word as a singular "pant" [meaning one pair of pants] especially in clothing ads, but most writers would regard that as an affectation.)
· Her scissors were stolen.
· The glasses have slipped down his nose again.
When a noun names the title of something or is a word being used as a word, it is singular whether the word takes a singular form or not.
· Faces is the name of the new restaurant downtown.
· Okies, which most people regard as a disparaging word, was first used to describe the residents of Oklahoma during the 1930s.
· Chelmsley Brothers is the best moving company in town.
· Postcards is my favorite novel.
· The term Okies was used to describe the residents of Oklahoma during the 1930s. (In this sentence, the word Okies is actually an appositive for the singular subject, "term.")
Plural Compound Nouns
Compound words create special problems when we need to pluralize them. As a general rule, the element within the compound that word that is pluralized will receive the plural -s, but it's not always that simple. Daughters-in-law follows the general rule, but cupfuls does not. See the special section on Compound Nouns and Modifiers or, better yet, a good dictionary, for additional help.