0
Minhhai2209 Posted 16 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation
Do you know why the plural of "knife" is "knives"?
Hi. Do you know why the plurals of "knife" and "life" are "knives" and "lives", respectively? Is it because the English cannot pronounce "knifes" and "lifes" easily? And for native speakers, do they have to learn those rules, or it just happens naturally?
Top answer
Why? Because in the history of our language (Old and Middle English), the pronunciation of the final unvoiced "f" sound changed to its voiced equivalent "v" when the plural ending was added. So some words handed down through the years kept this pattern, and you see it in the spelling.
- Why?
- Because in the history of our language (Old and Middle English), the pronunciation of the final unvoiced "f" sound changed to its voiced equivalent "v" when the plural ending was added.
- So some words handed down through the years kept this pattern, and you see it in the spelling.
- By the way, the word " fife " (a kind of flute) has a regular plural - fifes .
- English is full of irregular plurals - the reasons all lie in the language's history.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
5 Answers
0
Why?
Because in the history of our language (Old and Middle English), the pronunciation of the final unvoiced "f" sound changed to its voiced equivalent "v" when the plural ending was added. So some words handed down through the years kept this pattern, and you see it in the spelling.
By the way, the word "fife" (a kind of flute) has a regular plural - fifes.
Because in the history of our language (Old and Middle English), the pronunciation of the final unvoiced "f" sound changed to its voiced equivalent "v" when the plural ending was added. So some words handed down through the years kept this pattern, and you see it in the spelling.
By the way, the word "fife" (a kind of flute) has a regular plural - fifes.
00
0
Another exception is the word "roof," whose plural is also regular: "roofs." There is an archaic form "rooves" that is no longer used, except by some speakers in Australia and most in New Zealand. I think many native speakers of English, who want to avoid the issue, simply say "rooftops"!
00
00
English has it's own rules. For example we have to add es with fox and church. It is because it's sound is end with "ch"
0
Related Questions