Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[worksmart]

For the plural form, why es for potatoES and tomatoES, and piano and kilos are not pianoes, and kiloes? Don't these words all end with a "O"?

Thanks!

[ClarissaMach]

The problem is that there is not a single rule for plural in English, Worksmart.

See the words 'man', 'woman' and 'child', which plural forms are 'men', 'women' and 'children', respectively.

(Here in Brazil students commit a lot of mistakes like "womans", "mans", "childs").



Clarissa Alves Machado.

[ClarissaMach]

Isn't it funny:

Man - Men = you change the written word, but the way you say it is the same;

Woman - Women = you change a letter at the second syllable, but the way you say it changes in the first syllable;

Child - children = idem.



Clarissa Alves Machado.

[LucentShade]

Unfortunately, there's no good way to tell if a word ending in -o should get -s or -es, aside from plain memorization. You can find a list of irregular plurals, including the -o list at this site:
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/crump.htm

[angelwing]

It's the problem with the English language. It's just confusing.

Norm
_________________
"They play in the devil's key
An endless symphony
I even hear it now
And I listen to the music
Beautiful music
Yes I listen to the music
Beautiful music"

[ClarissaMach]

[worksmart]

I guess so...