ChatterBank2 mins ago
Singular to plural....
26 Answers
...why is the 'f' changed to a 'v' for example in these words ...
1 knife...2 knives
1 scarf...2 scarves
I can't come up with any more examples but I'm sure there must be a lot.
1 knife...2 knives
1 scarf...2 scarves
I can't come up with any more examples but I'm sure there must be a lot.
Answers
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This is a matter of voiced and unvoiced consonants. F is the unvoiced version, V is the voiced version. Putting a singular noun into the plural by adding s tends to make the previous unvoiced consonant become voiced, so we say house ( with a s sound ) but houses ( with a z sound)
We get the variation between voiced and unvoiced pairs of consonants in many other aspects of English. This is why we often write "d" at the end of a verb in the past tense, but pronounce it "T". "Missed" is usually pronounced "mist", for instance. "B" and "P" are another pair
The old-fashioned "S" shaped like an f without the stroke across it has nothing to do with the pronunciation.
English is probably one of the least phonetic (alphabetic) languages there is. Spelling has very little to do with pronunciation in English, unlike Hebrew, for instance, which is almost completely phonetic.
We get the variation between voiced and unvoiced pairs of consonants in many other aspects of English. This is why we often write "d" at the end of a verb in the past tense, but pronounce it "T". "Missed" is usually pronounced "mist", for instance. "B" and "P" are another pair
The old-fashioned "S" shaped like an f without the stroke across it has nothing to do with the pronunciation.
English is probably one of the least phonetic (alphabetic) languages there is. Spelling has very little to do with pronunciation in English, unlike Hebrew, for instance, which is almost completely phonetic.
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