If you go into an art gallery and read the description under the picture that you’re looking at, you’ll see that the medium used to create it is pastel on paper, for example. The word ‘medium’ is used to refer to the material that was used to create an artwork. This pair of words is unusual because the singular and plural meanings are different. Shortened: memo (singular) or memos (plural)Ĭommon mistakes: memorandas or memorandums 8. Plural form (very formal and rarely used): memorandaĮxample: ‘The bank will send out information memoranda to potential investors next week’. For example, when buying a house, the ‘memorandum of sale’ is a document that contains the essential details of the transaction. It tends to be used in formal or legal contexts. This is a word to describe information that is collected.Ĭommon mistake: datas 7. Pronunciation Note: The spelling at the start of both of these words is pronounced as an /f/ sound. For example, more people than ever are working from home so we could say: ‘Working from home is a recent social phenomenon’. The meaning of this word is to do with something that is observable in a scientific sense we could be talking about the weather, the social sciences, or something that has changed from its natural behavior. For example, ‘To apply for this job, you need to meet the selection criteria’ (more than one requirement must be met). Then we have a set of criteria, these are the rules or requirements by which something is judged. Therefore, the word criterion means a single factor by which something is judged. The meaning of this word goes back to the word ‘critic’ in ancient Greek, which means ‘to judge something’. Pronounce this using the word ‘cry’ again, but this time joined with the word ‘seas’ (like the ocean) ➡ CRY-seas.Ĭommon mistake: crisises 4. Pronounce it using the word ‘cry’ joined with the first syllable of the word sister: ‘sis’. crisis vs crisesĪ crisis is a difficult period in your life where something shocking or unexpected happens. Pronounce it like a tie you wear around your neck ➡ ‘KAK-tie‘.Ĭommon mistake: cactuses 3. These words are scientific terms for mushrooms.Ĭommon mistake: funguses 2. Therefore, both of the sentences below are correct: However, the meaning is often used in the singular, which is acceptable, because few people know or use the singular form ‘datum’. Note: The word ‘data’ is technically a plural noun. Incorrectly adding -es to make a plural, e.g. Incorrectly adding an –s to a word that is already plural, e.g.Getting the singular and plural forms of the noun mixed up.Since Latin isn’t widely taught nowadays, words with Latin plurals are often used incorrectly in English. These academic and scientific words retain their original Latin singular and plural endings. Words with Latin plurals are the exception. Most English nouns take –s, –es or -ies for their plural form. ✔︎Įnglish Common Mistakes: Latin Plural Endings If your goal is to learn how to use these correctly in sentences, it can be helpful to keep this basic rule in mind- plural nouns have an “-s” added on the end!ĭownload here a complete list of singular and plurals in PDF.▶︎ Join my email newsletter (get a free lesson and be notified about special offers) One common grammar issue that ESL students struggle with is singulars and plurals. Learning English is a challenging process for many people, but fortunately there are plenty of resources to help you along the way. We have discussed basic synonyms and their use in our daily routine conversational sentences. This basic vocabulary short lesson is very useful for kids and beginners. Understanding when to use them correctly is an important part of mastering the language. My teacher gave me a memorandum for my parents explaining that I will be absent tomorrow.Įnglish has both singular and plural forms for nouns, pronouns, adjectives and verbs.Today, I want to give you a memorandum about my expectations for your behavior at work.Please sign the memorandum so we can get this project done by Friday.
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