A double plural is theplural form of a noun with an additional plural ending (usually -s) attached;for example, candelabras (singular, candelabrum; plural, candelabra) or sixpences (singular, penny; plural, pence).
In addition, the term double plural is occasionally used to refer to a noun with two plurals that differ in meaning, such as brothers and brethren (plurals of brother).
Examples and Observations
Margery Fee and Janice McAlpine: Bacteria is the Latin plural form [of bacterium]. In formal and scientific writing, it is always treated as plural and used with a plural verb: 'These bacteria are clearly visible when stained.' In everyday English, bacteria is also used as a singular noun meaning a strain of bacteria: 'They said it was a bacteria, not a virus.' This singular use has generated a double plural: bacterias. Bacterias, meaning strains of bacteria, is fairly common in journalism, but not suited for technical or formal writing.
John Algeo: Modern English breeches is a double plural (OE nominative singular broc 'trouser,' nominative plural brec), as is ... kine (OE nominative singular cu 'cow,' nominative plural cy with the addition of the plural -n from words like oxen).
Celia M. Millward and Mary Hayes: OE cildru 'children' belonged to a very small minor class of neuter nouns having a plural in -ru; the /r/ has survived in PDE [present-day English], but an additional weak -n plural has been added, giving PDE children a double plural.
Kate Burridge: Occasionally, people using incident in the plural give it a double plural—incidentses. Incidents doesn't sound plural enough —just as quince (in 1300s one coyn and many coyns) didn't for early English speakers (Quinces is historically a double plural).
Richard Lockridge: They stopped and formed a semicircle around the microphone. 'Everywhere there is a crisis,' they sang together. 'Every time they throw the dices.'
Kate Burridge: This same process is currently affecting the word dice. Dice was traditionally the plural of die 'small cube with six faces,' but is now being reinterpreted as singular. In this case we've also got a split happening. In specialist contexts die is still being used as a singular noun for 'metal stamp for coining.' The dice used in gaming has a new reformulated plural, technically a double plural, dices (though some speakers still use dice as plural)... When speakers don't feel words to be plural enough, they add another plural marker for good measure.
Shane Walshe: Both [Terence Patrick] Dolan [inA Dictionary of Hiberno-English, 2006] and [Jiro] Taniguchi [in A Grammatical Analysis of Artistic Representation of Irish English, 1972] ... draw attention to double plural forms (or what Taniguchi calls 'vulgar' forms) which also occasionally appear in Irish English. These involve the addition of /əz/ to existing plurals which end in -s. Dolan offers the examples of bellowses for bellows and galluses for gallus, an obsolete form of the word gallows meaning 'braces.' Taniguchi, on the other hand, cites newses as a plural for news (1972: 10). While I have not encountered the latter form, I have frequently heard other forms, such as pantses and knickerses. What is more, the film corpus displays the forms chipses and barrackses.
Edna O'Brien: My mother used always to laugh because when they met Mrs. Hogan used to say 'any newses' and look up at her, with that wild stare, opening her mouth to show the big gaps between her front teeth, but the 'newses' had at last come to her own door, and though she must have minded dreadfully she seemed vexed more than ashamed, as if it was inconvenience rather than disgrace that had hit her.
Tamara Maximova: In general, words tend to be borrowed as unanalysed wholes, their internal structure being opaque to the borrower. Russian speakers are therefore often not aware of the meaning of the English plural morpheme -s; this can lead to double plural marking through the addition of a Russian inflection to an English plural; as in pampersy, dzhinsy, chipsy.
FAQs
Can a sentence have two plurals? It absolutely can. Plurality is tied to the noun, not the sentence, thus as long as you have the nouns, you can fit any number of plurals in a single sentence.
Do you use plural or singular after double? ›
You use double before a singular noun to refer to two things of the same type that occur together, or that are connected in some way. ... an extremely nasty double murder. The government committed a double blunder.
Is fish a double plural? ›
Using “Fish” and “Fishes” Correctly
Fish and fishes are both acceptable plural forms, but fish is more widely used. Fish can be the plural form whether there's multiple fish of the same species or multiple fish of different species. Fishes is usually used in scientific contexts to refer to multiple species.
What is plural rule #2? ›
Rule 2: Nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch, or -x and most nouns ending in -o usually form their plural by adding -es to the singular, like; Class, classes. Watch, watches. Dish, dishes.
Is deer a double plural? ›
The plural of deer is deer. This word is an irregular plural noun The noun deer is both the singular and the plural They saw one deer or They saw two million deer Deer is the preferred plural form of deer, although deers (rarely used) is also an accepted plural.
Is there a rule for plurals? ›
The main rule to follow is to add the letter -s to the end of the noun. However, nouns that end in -s, -sh, -ss, -z, -x, -ch, and sometimes -o need to have an -es added at the end to make them plural. Another rule to follow is for nouns that end in -y; change the y to an i and then add -es.
What is the rule for plural sentence? ›
Updated on October 18, 2022 · Grammar. A plural noun is a noun that refers to more than one person, place, thing, or idea. Most singular nouns are made plural by adding a suffix, usually –s or –es. For example, the singular noun dog takes the plural form dogs, as in three dogs.
Should I use plural after both? ›
Both can be used with plural nouns on its own, or it can be followed by "of", with or without an article. When followed by a plural pronoun, both must be separated from the pronoun by "of". Both cannot be used with singular nouns, because it refers to two things.
Are double words grammatically correct? ›
Double words such as “the the” are a common source of writing errors. On the other hand, some doubled words are legitimate. You might, for example, find “had had” or “that that” in a grammatically correct sentence.
Is octopuses a double plural? ›
Both octopuses and octopi are acceptable plurals for octopus. Of the two, octopuses is the simpler and more commonly used. The proposed plural octopodes is based on the plural of the Ancient Greek word from which octopus ultimately derives. But it's rarely used outside of the octopuses vs.
The correct plural form of 'tomato' is 'tomatoes'.
Is sheeps a double plural? ›
The answer is that they all – usually – use the same word whether they are in the singular or the plural. If you have one sheep and then you acquire a second sheep, you now have two sheep, not two “sheeps”.
Can you use double plurals? ›
A double plural is the plural form of a noun with an additional plural ending (usually -s) attached; for example, candelabras (singular, candelabrum; plural, candelabra) or sixpences (singular, penny; plural, pence).
What are 20 examples of plural nouns? ›
- Man – men.
- Woman – women.
- Ox – oxen.
- Goose – geese.
- Child – children.
- Tooth – teeth.
- Foot – feet.
- Mouse – mice.
A plural noun is a noun that refers to more than one person, place, thing, or idea. Most singular nouns are made plural by adding a suffix, usually –s or –es. For example, the singular noun dog takes the plural form dogs, as in three dogs.
Is double had grammatically correct? ›
The use of two "hads" in the sentence is a grammatical error. The sentence should read, "In the other life I might have had something to do..." Hello Michael. “Had had” is the past perfect tense of “have.” You use the past perfect tense when you need to indicate that something occurred before another previous event.
Is it grammatically correct to use for twice in a sentence? ›
There is no problem grammatically if more than one “for” shows up in a sentence. Stylistically it might sound redundant.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/group-of-swaledale-sheep-in-a-field-in-north-yorkshire--911637490-5ed1418f82254b0197a537a37f376b39.jpg "Double Plurals in English (1)")
