In general we expect plurals to simply end in an ‘s’ but this is not always the case.
addenda – additional material added to the end of a book or publication. (formal)
‘Please refer to the addenda regarding additional matters.’
agenda is the plural of agendum meaning something needs to be done. The use of agenda in everyday English is extremely common whilst the singular is not.
I will check my agenda to see if I am available for the hearing next week.
criteria – singular criterion
My client has satisfied the criteria set out tin the contract
Some plurals end ‘es’
When singular nouns end s, x, ch or sh we usually add ‘es’ to create a plural
prospectuses
analyses
but index becomes indexes or indices
sometimes an ‘i’ is introduced
In cases, modus operandi is often used to describe the behaviour of a defendant., it can also be used to describe the way of doing something or how something operates.
The modus operandi of the defendant was plain to see that day as he left his house with a bag of tools prior to breaking into the gallery and stealing the painting.
Contrast the plural
All the defendants had showed modi operandi to create harm that day.
sometimes there are more than one possibility of ending with a plural for the same noun
singular appendix
appendices
appendixes
singular bureau
bureaus
bureaux
singular forum
forums
fora
singular memorandum
memoranda
memorandums
Quiz Time
Do you know the plurals of (answers below):
Public Notary
Attorney General
corpus
quantum
answers
Notaries Public
Attorneys General
corpa
quanta
are there any others you know?
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