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ESL forum >
Ask for help > Doubts
Doubts
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sandrasilvia
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Doubts
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Why in the word roof ,it doesn`t apply the rule to chage to ves if you want to make it plural? Is anybody who can help me please? |
4 Nov 2012
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yanogator
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That �s a great article. I would add that the plural of "dwarf" can be either "dwarfs", as the article says, or "dwarves". Bruce |
4 Nov 2012
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ldthemagicman
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Dear SandraSylvia,
Several months ago, a Member wrote:
"I learnt all nouns ending with -f or -fe get -ves endings in plural".
THEY DO NOT!
Quirk (and 5 other Professors), 2010, "A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language" list the Rules.
Nouns which take a Plural ending in �ves �, calf: calves; elf: elves; half: halves; knife: knives; leaf: leaves; life: lives; loaf: loaves; self: selves; sheaf: sheaves; shelf: shelves; thief: thieves; wife: wives; wolf: wolves.
Nouns which take 2 possible Plurals, ending in �s � and �ves �, dwarf: dwarfs/dwarves; hoof: hoofs/hooves; scarf: scarfs/scarves; wharf: wharfs/wharves.
Other nouns ending in f(e), take regular plural �s �, belief: beliefs; chief: chiefs; cliff: cliffs; proof: proofs; roof: roofs; safe: safes.
LES |
4 Nov 2012
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joy2bill
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It �s a case of evolution. When I was a child in NZ we were taught and always used rooves but this sounds dreadful now. language is a living thing and it �s constantly changing! |
4 Nov 2012
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alex076
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Thanks so much for the explanations. I have always wondered how to teach those exceptions. You �re always so helpful!!! Thank you!  |
4 Nov 2012
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almaz
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Further to Les �s reply, Quirk and Greenbaum also point out that �some nouns which in the singular end in the voiceless fricatives spelled -th and -f have voiced fricatives in the plural, followed by /z/ �. Although they go on to say that roof takes regular plural only, you �ll find that dictionaries such as the SOED and Merriam-Webster will also give rooves as a secondary plural.
If it �s of any help, fricatives were always voiced intervocalically (between vowels) in Old English, so for roof/roofs, it would have been hrof (sing.) -> hrofas (pl.), but over time as the vowel was dropped, there was less need phonologically to voice the final fricative - although some obviously persisted in the older form (leaf -> leaves etc). Dwarf, by the way, had a different etymology, but is often given the -ves ending by analogy with words ending in -f � although Tolkien should shoulder some of the blame for this ;) |
5 Nov 2012
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