Page 550 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

days IdeIZI boys IboIZI trees Itri:z/ knives InaIVzl
clotheslklau()zl ends lendzl hills IhIlzI
legs /legzl dreams Idri:mzl songs IsnTJzl
singular and plural (3): pronunciation of plurals 525
In 1581 the Dutch declared their independence from Spain. (B UT A Dutchman came into the shop. NOT A Dttteh ...)
Trousers, jeans, pyjamas (ArnE pajamas), pants, scales, scissors, glasses, spectacles (meaning 'glasses'), binoculars, pliers, and the names of many similar divided objects are plural, and have no singular forms. (The equivalent words in some other languages are singular.)
Your jeans are too tight. (NOT Ytutr'jetln is ...)
Where are my glasses?~ They're on your nose.
To talk about individual items, we can use a pair of (see 430).
Have you got a pair o f naU-scissors?
Other common words which are normally plural and uncountable include: arms, clothes (see 133), congratulations, contents, customs (at a frontier), funds (= money), goods, groceries, manners (= social behaviour), the Middle Ages (a period in history), oats (but corn, wheat, barley and rye are singular uncountable), odds (= chances), outskirts, premises (= building), regards, remains, savings, surroundings, thanks, troops.
Congratulations on your new job. (NOT C61Wtltftlaft(jIl ...)
She lives on the outskirts ofCambridge. (NOT ••• the (JttfSkir't ...)
For cases where plural nouns are used with singular verbs and pronouns (and the opposite).
see 52&-527.
525 singular and plural (3): pronunciation of plurals
1 nouns ending in lsi, Izl and other sibilants
After one of the sibilant sounds lsI. Iz/, /II. 13/. ItSI and Id3/, the plural ending -es is pronounced IIZ/.
buses /,bASIZI crashes /,krmIIzl watches /'wntIIzl quizzes /,kWIZIZI garages /'gmra:31zl bridges /,bnd3Izl
2 nouns ending in other unvoiced sounds
After any other unvoiced sound (/p/./f/, 18/. ItI or /k/), the plural ending -(e)s is pronounced 1st.
cups IkApsl cloths /kln8sl books Ibuksl beliefs IbI'li:fsl plates /pleItsl
3 nouns ending in other voiced sounds
After vowels, and all voiced consonants except Iz/, 131 and Id3/, the plural ending -(e)s is pronounced /z/.
4 plurals with irregular pronunciation
Singular
bath Iba:81 house /haus/ mouth Irnau81
Plural
baths /ba:8sl or /ba:()zl houses /,hauZIzl
mouths /mau8sl or /mauOz/
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