The plural form of child is children; mice is the plural for mouse. Word Origin Old English mūs, (plural) mȳs, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch muis and German Maus, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin and Greek mus. Here's a quick test. A. micec B. meese C. mice D. moose E. mouses - Grammar Quiz Anonymous. Small mammals, rats, field and house mice, rabbits, pocket gophers, chipmunks and squirrels make up 80-85 percent of their diet. Unlike most other deer species, moose are solitary animals and do not form herds. The process is shared among Germanic languages, and is Germanic umlaut. This podcast was written by Bonnie Mills, author of The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier, who blogs at sentencesleuth.blogspot.com. An example sentence would be: The two mice ate the cheese. The Second Edition of the OED gives one plural quote, which has "mice"; in the Third Edition (November 2010), the old quote is gone and there is a new plural quote, which has "mouses". Find more words! This word has a very complicated background and history, and as such, its grammatical forms and pluralization do not follow any typical rules that most words follow. The process of umlaut is a technical linguistics concept. What is the plural form of ‘mouse’? So we can blame Old English for the plural noun “oxen.” Only two other plural nouns in modern English end this way: “children” and “brethren.” Some other nouns, such as “eye,” “house,” and “hose,” used to be pluralized in a similar way, but the plural forms “eyen,” “housen,” and “hosen” are now dialectic or obsolete (2). Sorry! Form most plurals by adding 's' to the singular noun. Mouse's is possessive. Is there any rhyme or reason into this? “Beowulf” was written in this language. Mice and rats have the same organs in the same places, with the difference of size. “Beowulf” was written in this language. a few other nouns (foot, mouse) that form the plural by changing a vowel; and several borrowed nouns that hold on to their foreign plural endings--such as Latin alumni (or alumnae) and Greek criteria; To illustrate some of these eccentric plural forms, here are two versions of an amusing little verse by our favorite poet, Author(s) Unknown. The entry says nothing about the plural besides these quotes, so I feel that we cannot draw any conclusion about which form the OED supports. All Free. Plural nouns are words used to refer to more than one person, place, animal, thing or idea. The plural form of house mouse is house mice. mouse - WordReference English dictionary, questions, discussion and forums. Copyright © 2021 Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC. 1892, Walter Besant, chapter II, in The Ivory Gate: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 16832619: At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. The site I read to learn about German plurals tells me there are at least five different ways that German nouns can form the plural, one of which is by adding “-en” to the end (3). The plural form of mouse is mice. What do you think? Is the plural of mouse in the computing sense mice or mouses? What is the irregular plural for woman? In this article, let’s explore the proper use of the word mouse, its plural form, look for its synonyms, and learn its context. Garner, B. Garner's Modern English Usage. 2003, p. 615. Domestic mice sold as pets often differ substantially in size from the common house mouse. Use * for blank tiles (max 2) Advanced Search Advanced Search: Use * for blank spaces Advanced Search: Advanced Word Finder: Examples. Robbie from Keene, New Hampshire, called in with this question: One of my friends knows that I'm kind of geeky and into grammar and was asking me about adding the “-s” onto words to make the plural but in the same question came up with the question about words like "moose" and "mice" and "ox" and a "goose"—how all of those aren't formed into the plural by adding the “-s.” And I was wondering if you can give any insight? They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs. Yolandi. 2 0. steven m. Lv 7. il y a 1 décennie. Most people, however pluralise acronyms, and initials in general, by adding a small s, so it would be MOUSEs, which seems a bit silly. Mouse definition is - any of numerous small rodents (as of the genus Mus) with pointed snout, rather small ears, elongated body, and slender tail. What do you… Irregular Nouns That Change Completely For example, the plural of person is people, the plural of woman is women, and the plural … ": mice . 2 0. Speaking of mice, many years ago, people who had a computer mouse in each hand could call them “mouses” or “mice,” but “mice” has emerged as the standard, and it’s what you should use today, which is nice because now we don’t have to deal with two competing plurals. 4 réponses. More on that in a minute. ): npl plural noun: Noun always used in plural form--for example, "jeans," "scissors. In the plural is an umlaut. The first group of irregular nouns we’ll discuss come from an obsolete form in Old English. The ones that come to mind first do tend to be animals, but there are other zero-plurals too such as “aircraft” and “species.” Some nouns, such as “fish,” have two plurals like “mouse” used to. ): npl plural noun: Noun always used in plural form--for example, "jeans," "scissors. View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message Visit Homepage Member English Teacher. about 4 hours ago. Réponse Enregistrer. Find more words! Where they weigh in on the plural it's mice. “Ox” and “oxen” fall into this category. This motion is typically translated into the motion of a pointer on a display, which allows a smooth control of the graphical user interface of a computer.. righteousjohnson. These are nouns whose singular and plural forms are the same, such as “deer,” “fish,” “moose,” “sheep,” “shrimp,” and “swine.” These are called zero-plural nouns. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_english. Mice is plural. It seems they jumbled quotes for no reason. Some nouns are formed irregularly. Many irregular plurals in English do seem to be animal names, but odd plurals aren't limited to animals. 2 … Years ago, people who had a computer mouse in each hand could call them “mouses” or “mice.” The "mice" plural comes from a linguistic process called "umlaut. The first public demonstration of a mouse controlling a computer system was in 1968. For the small device used to guide the cursor on a computer display, many dictionaries endorse both mice and mouses as the plural form, and few usage and style guides offer a definitive preference (exception: AP says “mice”). An umlaut is that little two-dot symbol you sometimes see on German vowels, but what we’re talking about here is a different meaning of the word. Another word for Opposite of Meaning of Rhymes with Sentences with Find word forms Translate from English Translate to English Words With Friends Scrabble Crossword / Codeword Words starting with Words ending with Words containing exactly Words containing letters Pronounce Find conjugations Find names Declension and Plural of Maus. I’ve always known that English has many roots, including Germanic ones, but I haven’t actually studied German. 0 people found this helpful. Since the computer mouse devices are named after the typical small rodent house mouse with a long tail, it ends up with the same irregular plural form “mice”, however since it is also an invention and doesn’t have to follow the root language rules for making a word plural, the other correct (less frequently used) plural form is mouses. This is the most common meaning of the word mouse.
English-language usage guru Brian Garner figures that the plural of the computer mouse will eventually find its own level; one word will begin to be used more often, for whatever reason, and the other will disappear.
The author adds that Microsoft tells vendors to "avoid the plural"; but if you can't then use "mouse devices." Normally, the plural of mouse is mice when you are referring to those real rodents. In modern English, most of the time we make a noun plural by adding an “-s.” So the plural of “animal” is “animals.” Robbie, on the other hand, is asking about irregular plurals, and we’re going to delve into the history of English as we learn about three irregular types of plural nouns. U.S. English usually accepts both. The bottom line is that they are just the way they are, and people who are learning English simply have to memorize the strange plurals just as they would irregular verbs. Plural. Examples are “foot,” “goose,” “woman,” and “louse,” which become “feet,” “geese,” “women,” and “lice.” Again we turn to German for an explanation of why we make them plural this way. Perhaps we would say some plurals that way if we were all still speaking Old English. As an Amazon Associate and a Bookshop.org Affiliate, QDT earns from qualifying purchases. Donbelid. Sarai. Origin. What is the plural for mouse , as in the computer mouse. when referring to the plural form of a computer mouse, is it mice or mouses? Mice . The Plural of Mouse The plural of mouse is mice. By: Nick Nicholas | Post date: 2016-01-11 | Comments: No Comments Posted in categories: English, Linguistics. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Here you can not only inflect Maus but also all German nouns. book = books. The only correct plural of moose is moose.Sometimes, people add an S to moose, but that is incorrect.Moose derives from Algonquian, a Native American language. Is it only animals that we don't have to add an “-s” on to make it plural? Idioms. English language Tutor. Old English is a West Germanic language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and southern Scotland between the mid-5th and late-11th centuries (1). Bonnie Mills has been a copyeditor since 1996. Are You Good at Plurals? http://german.about.com/library/blplural01.htm, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_plurals. How to use mouse in a sentence. Robbie made me laugh when he placed a follow-up call asking me to imagine pluralizing all these words like the word "oxen": "goosen," "micen," and "moosen." ", Today’s topic is irregular plural nouns, odd nouns such as “ox” and “oxen.”. The second group of plurals we’ll talk about are mutants, which also have Old English roots (4). The meanings are as follows: Mouse can refer to the small furry creatures with long tails that live in houses and destroy people’s properties. Our etymology lesson is over but we have one more type of plural noun to cover. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Seeing the word “hosen” reminded me of the German word “lederhosen,” which has a similar plural ending as these obsolete words. Re: What is the plural for mouse? Rules for the plural form of nouns. Other examples are “man” and “men,” “mouse” and mice,” and “tooth” and “teeth.”, Today, the most common plural of 'mouse' is 'mice.'. The plural of mouse, the computer hardware device, is mouses. Old English is a West Germanic language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and southern Scotland between the mid-5th and late-11th centuries (1). “Ox” and “oxen” fall into this category. The declension of the noun Maus is in singular genitive Maus and in the plural nominative Mäuse. The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier. If the noun ends in y preceded by a consonant, change the 'y' to 'i' then add 'es.' Nutrax The plural of anecdote is not data. This was helpful. In English language, there are about three different meanings of the word mouse. Is it also mice ? Very funny. Certain plurals do not add a letter to the end, but instead change the word itself. MOUSE is an acronym, and is short for Manually-Operated User-Selection Equipment so technically MOUSE is already the plural (… Equipments?) Some nouns, such as “fish,” have two plurals like “mouse” used to. Download Grammarly's app to help with eliminating grammar errors and finding the right words. Pertinence. Member Info . The voice of Maus is feminine and the article "die". If the singular noun ends in s, ss, sh, ch, or x, add 'es' to form a plural noun. People often feel that this sense needs its own distinctive plural, but in fact the ordinary plural mice is commoner, and the first recorded use of the term in the plural (1984) is mice. tax = taxes. Rules for Forming Plural Nouns. Straight talking and methodical, "Smashing Grammar" (Our Grammar Book, 2019), some nouns undergo a vowel or letters change. It kept the same plural ending it had in its original language instead of adopting the normal S ending of most English plurals. I have heard "Computer Mice" used on a Tech show, They were talking about an optical Computer Mouse. Moose are excellent swimmers and are known to wade into water to eat aquatic plants. Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc. Réponse favorite. The noun Maus is declined with the declension endings -/äu-e. How do words like “mouse” get their plural form? You can just say you’re holding two mice. The first group of irregular nouns we’ll discuss come from an obsolete form in Old English. Domestic mice sold as pets often differ substantially in size from the common house mouse. Although I had started out hoping to find a pattern that would help Robbie understand why certain words take strange plurals, the real answer is that the occasional odd plurals are just holdovers from Old English or are examples of zero plurals. A computer mouse (plural mice, rarely mouses) is a hand-held pointing device that detects two-dimensional motion relative to a surface. “Computer mouses” i guess is not proper. pony = ponies . If someone from a thousand years ago traveled through time to visit us, we wouldn’t be able to understand each other, but as modern English evolved, it retained some elements of Old English. Do you disagree with something on this page. "Computer mouses" i guess is not proper. However, in the case of a "mouse" used for the computer, can you still use the plural form "mice", "computer mice" if you are referring to lots of computer mouse? Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - … There doesn't seem to be a "correct" plural. I checked a number of sources, and U.K. English seems to ignore the plural form mouses. Lv 7. il y a 1 décennie. 1 decade ago. Some examples of these include 'man' to 'men,' 'person' to 'people,' 'mouse' to 'mice,' and 'sheep,' which is the same in its plural form. The right plural for mouse will depend on what type of mouse we are talking about. If someone from a thousand years ago traveled through time to visit us, we wouldn’t be ab… “Fish” is the most common plural, but scientists sometimes use “fishes” to describe multiple species of fish. play (a game of) cat and mouse with somebody | play a cat-and-mouse game with somebody. Mice and rats have the same organs in the same places, with the difference of size. Inflections of 'mouse' (n noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc. All we need to know for our purposes is that mutated plurals are, in fact, quite rare in modern English. The Plural of Moose The plural of moose is moose. You form these mutated plurals simply by changing the vowel sound of the singular, in a process called “umlaut” (5). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005, p. 360. mouse (plural mice) Any small rodent of the genus Mus. American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style. However, in the case of a “mouse” used for the computer, can you still use the plural form “mice”, “computer mice” if you are referring to lots of computer mouse? Vowel change was a strategy for forming plurals in Old English. Vocational rather than academic, "Grammar for Grown-ups" is packed with real-life examples and keeps you engaged with a wealth of great quotations from Homer the Greek to Homer the Simpson. Native Language: Persian; Home Country: Iran; Current Location: Iran; Join Date: Dec 2005; Posts: 144 #2 15-Dec-2005, 17:43. The plural form of mouse is mice. ": mice . Plural Nouns. Quick & Dirty Tips™ and related trademarks appearing on this website are the property of Mignon Fogarty, Inc. and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC. Normally, the plural of mouse is mice when you are referring to those real rodents. 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