|
|
||||||||||||
| Item | Match | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| person | people |
Some speakers of other languages (especially Spanish") often use "people" in the singular: In Mexico people is very nice This is wrong, since "people" is an irregular plural and it should be: In Mexico people are very nice Now, the word "people" can also mean "nation", and in that case it is a regular word: people - peoples Moses said to the Pharaoh: Let my people go His majesty, the people is tired of this war. Today is a great day for all the peoples in the world |
| half | halves |
BrE - /hɑ:f/ /hɑ:vz/ AmE - /hæf/ /hævz/ |
| elf | elves |
A small, often mischievous creature considered to have magical powers. Other similar creatures: dwarf, leprechaun, gnome |
| child | children | |
| alumna | alumnae |
/əlʌmnə/ /əlʌmni:/ (formal) a female university student |
| millenium | millenia | |
| loaf | loaves |
A shaped mass of bread baked in one piece. A loaf is the complete thing made of bread, and when you eat, you break it into pieces of bread. So you usually buy, for example, two loaves, or two loaves of bread, you never buy a piece of bread. |
| mouse | mice | |
| knife | knives | |
| penny | pence |
In the UK a pound has 100 pence, though very often people simply say "p": 1p /pi:/ 2p /pi:/ In America "penny" is a colloquial word for "cent", and the plural is "pennies". |
| this | these |
/ðɪs/ /ði:z/ |
| leaf | leaves | |
| that | those |
/ðæt/ /ðəʊz/ |
| scarf | scarves | |
| tooth | teeth |
/tu:θ/ /ti:θ/ |
| ox | oxen |
An adult castrated bull (they castrate them to make them milder and stronger) |
| man | men | |
| die | dice |
/daɪ/ /daɪs/ A die is a small cube with numbers (usually dots) from 1 to 6 on every side, and it is used to get a random number in many games. Anyway, it is also very common to use DICE both for singular and plural: one dice, two dice. |
| shelf | shelves |
a thin flat plank of wood, metal, etc., fixed horizontally against a wall, etc., for the purpose of supporting objects |
| wolf | wolves |
/wʊlf/ /wʊlvz/ |
| medium | media | |
| sheep | sheep | |
| wife | wives | |
| self | selves |
Your self is your essence, your true being. We most often use it in compounds: myself, yourself... themselves She pretends to care about people but that's not her true self I think he's a bit crazy, I saw him talking to himself in the bar |
| deer | deer | |
| woman | women |
/wʊmən/ /wɪmɪn/ |
| calf | calves |
CALF= A young cow or bull / The fleshy muscular back part of the human leg between the knee and ankle. BrE - /kɑ:f/ /kɑ:vz/ AmE - /kæf/ /kævz/ |
| goose | geese | |
| hoof | hooves |
The hard foot of some animals, for example a horse |
| life | lives | |
| louse | lice |
/laʊs/ /laɪs/ A louse is a very small insect which sometimes parasites the head of people, hiding among their hair. |
| alumnus | alumni |
/əlʌmnəs/ /əlʌmnaɪ/ (formal) a male university student |
| series | series |
/sɪəri:z/ This TV series is very funny I think all series are rubbish |
| cherub | cherubim |
plural also CHERUBS /tʃerəb/ /tʃerəbɪm/ in Christianity, a member of the second order of angels, whose distinctive gift is knowledge, often represented as a winged child or winged head of a child. (word of Hebrew origin) |
| index | indices |
/indeks/ /ɪndɪsi:z/ |
| fish | fish | |
| foot | feet |
