Resource of the Week #173: Some Lists of Irregular Plurals

Hello again. A few days ago an AuthorAID blog post discussed some examples of English-language nouns with irregular plural forms. The examples were ones that many journal-article authors may find useful to know.

In a comment on the post, AuthorAID community member Ben Mudrak mentioned a list that he had prepared of irregular plural forms common in scientific writing. Our resource this week consists of 3 such lists.

The 3 lists are as follows:

• the list from Ben, which appeared in the AJE Expert Edge blog
• a list, from Write Site at Athabasca University, titled Irregular Plurals in Biology/Zoology
• a list, from Bill Wilson at the University of New South Wales, of many irregular plurals, especially in mathematical fields

These lists can help researchers know which nouns have irregular plurals and what those plurals are. Also, here are 3 suggestions in this regard:

• When you read articles or books, notice words with irregular plurals, so you’ll be aware of them in the future.
• Consider making, and continuing to develop, a list of irregular plurals in your field.
• If you’re unsure whether a word has a regular or irregular plural, look up the word, for example in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Until next post—

Barbara