In general, to form plurals in English, you add either -s or -es (and sometimes change a y to an i). But there are a number of words – including some you use every day – that don’t follow this rule.

Lots of languages have distinct plural forms for you. When talking to more than one person, the French use vous; the Italians, voi; the Spanish, ustedes; and the Germans, ihr. Wouldn't it be useful if ...

One morning earlier this week I was able to spend about 10 minutes with a university professor who teaches English composition to freshmen students. It wasn't lost on me that I haven't listened to an ...

The English language doesn’t always abide by its own rules. It’s a giant melting pot of etymologies, sourcing itself from all over the world. The perplexing silent letters in words like “tsunami” and ...

Usually English plurals are pretty easy. Just add s: one dog, two dogs. We know some plurals don't use s: children, deer. There are some nouns that we seem to use only in the plural: thanks, ...

Are you up to the challenge for more quizzes? Here are a few you MUST try!

The usual way to modify a noun in English is to put an adjective before the noun: nice view, tasty treat, hot day. But every once in a while, we put the adjective after the noun. Often this is because ...

Algae thrives in sunlight. Or is it algae thrive? These are the questions that can broadside a copy editor years, even decades, into her career. When it comes to English, there’s never a point where ...