PLURALISING COMPOUND NOUNS

*English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (GAB)*

*PLURALISING COMPOUND NOUNS*

This is done in three ways. Some compounds are pluralised on the first word; some pluralise the last word while the third class pluralises the first and last words.

*Let us see examples for the first category:*

1. Passer-by – passers-by
2. Director-general – directors-general
3. Notary public- notaries public
4. Parent-in-law- parents-in-law
5. Head of State- Heads of State
6. Editor-in-Chief- Editors-in-Chief
7. Court-Martial- Courts-martial
8. Man-of-war- men-of-war
9. Secretary-General- Secretaries-General
Grant-in-aid- grants-in-aid

*The following compound nouns(and many others) are pluralised on the last words*

1. Major General/ Major Generals

2. Grown-up/ Grown-ups
3. Spoonful/ Spoonfuls
4. Fountain pen/ Fountain pens
5. Post office/ Post offices
6. Face-cloth- Face-clothes
7. Breakdown- Breakdowns
8. Boyfriend- Boyfriends
9. Deaf-mute- Deaf-mutes
10. On-looker- On-lookers
11. Bye-law- Bye-laws
12. Boy-Scout- Boy-Scouts
13.On-going- On-goings
14. Bread-crumb- Bread-crumbs
15. Boy Brigade- Boy Brigades
16. Call Girl- Call Girls
17. Bookcase- Bookcases
18. Workman- Workmen

*Few nouns can also be pluralised on both the first and last constituents. These are:*

1. Man student- Men students

2. Man friend- Men friends
3. Woman doctor- Women doctors
4. Gentleman farmer- Gentlemen farmers
5. Woman pilot- Women pilots
6. Woman driver- Women drivers

*These two nouns can be pluralised either way:*

Spoonful/ Spoonsful or Spoonfuls
On-going/ On-goings or goings-on

Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (GAB)
Academic Advisor, Distance Learning Centre, University of Ibadan;
&
Doctoral Student of English, University of Ibadan.