Plural words in English

[jali]

http://www.sporcle.com/games/pluralenglish.php

I couldn't get 5 of these words. English is all I know. This is pitiful!

How many can you get in 6 minutes?

I missed [spoiler:11i5rdi3]index, matix, appendix, axis and vertex.[/spoiler:11i5rdi3]

[Julie]

Got 'em all with 3:34 remaining. I'm a pluralizing fool.

[Vox Imperatoris]

All 46.
[spoiler:3aqz2kik]It took "octopodes" as an alternate answer instead of "octopi", which was shown as the answer they were expecting. I thought for sure it would have been a trick question, since that is the "actual" plural of octopus. The same for bureaux/bureaus, but that's more understandable.[/spoiler:3aqz2kik]

I didn't think to check my time, but I think it was about 4 minutes.

The main trick to the whole thing is knowing the genitive "base" form of third declension Latin words, so that you can make the given nominative version plural.

[Feirefiz]

All with 3:01 remaining. Occasionally seven years of Latin in school pay off.

[sublight]

I was able to do it with 2:50 remaining. Had some trouble with vertex, and also got tripped up until I noticed that 'Attorney' wasn't spelled with a 'u'.

[SilverTygerGirl]

Got all of them with 2:46 remaining.

[Giles]

I got them all, since I could make multiple guesses, It was biased towards Latin plurals -- e.g., I think "indexes" is more common than "indices" -- and had one definite error. "Octopi" is WRONG WRONG WRONG and is abomination to those who know a little Latin. But, since it rejected the correct "octopuses" I put it in because I knew they would want that instead.

[Vox Imperatoris]

I got them all, since I could make multiple guesses, It was biased towards Latin plurals -- e.g., I think "indexes" is more common than "indices" -- and had one definite error. "Octopi" is WRONG WRONG WRONG and is abomination to those who know a little Latin. But, since it rejected the correct "octopuses" I put it in because I knew they would want that instead.

No, the "real" Latin plural is "octopodes", which they do accept (it transforms it into "octopi" in the answer box). Although " octopuses" is a perfectly acceptable English plural.

[Badtz Maru]

I got them all with 3:31 remaining.

[susan]

Got them all in under 3 minutes. It's the verbal GRE score that keeps on giving. Plus I've been correcting diagnosises and its evil step-sister diagnosis' on exams all week (data about which may be found in all my syllabi, it should be said).

[Wheresgeorge04]

Got 'em all with 3:21 left. I'm a slow typist - my wife could have done it in 1:30, easy.

Joe

[Indistinguishable]

All with 4:50 remaining, though there was some weirdness: I typed "octopuses", for example, and yet it accepted it as though I typed "octopi".

[tirial]

All right with a few minutes to spare. There were a few odd bits where it accepted something but then put a different answer in the box. Is it designed with fuzzy logic?

[iampunha]

All 46.
[spoiler:ypx105at]It took "octopodes" as an alternate answer instead of "octopi", which was shown as the answer they were expecting. I thought for sure it would have been a trick question, since that is the "actual" plural of octopus. The same for bureaux/bureaus, but that's more understandable.[/spoiler:ypx105at]

I thought that one -- replacing your first typed answer (and mine) with the more popular but linguistically filthy one -- was garbage. The word comes from one language, not the other, so to allow for the superimposition is just dumb from a purist's view.

But it's also what everyone learns because omg, -us has to be Latin and not Greek. I'd have been happy, in the case of a few of those, if they'd listed multiple plurals, such as for index (where most people are now not learning it as indices), octopus and cherub (I see cherubs a lot more than I see cherubim).

And apparently -- learn something new every day -- seraph is backformation from seraphim.

(Got 'em all. I get paid to know them all.)

[TheFlame]

Got 'em all with 4:18 remaining.

[Giles]

But it's also what everyone learns because omg, -us has to be Latin and not Greek. I'd have been happy, in the case of a few of those, if they'd listed multiple plurals, such as for index (where most people are now not learning it as indices), octopus and cherub (I see cherubs a lot more than I see cherubim).

Yes, -us is most often Latin. So what are the Latin plurals of these Latin words?:

campus
genus
ignoramus
omnibus

[spoiler:1rew97jw]camp?s [with a long u]
genera
ignoramus is already plural (it means "we do not know")
omnibus is already plural (it means "for everyone")[/spoiler:1rew97jw]

[EthelMercaptan]

got all with 3:07 remaining. The one I got stuck on?

[spoiler:267rget3]Dice, for "die"[/spoiler:267rget3]

[jali]

Okay all of you.
Thanks for posting the 100% scores with minutes to go.
I suck.


Seriously - I love these types of quizzes. Despite having the lowest score in the history of this quiz, I still love it.

[pulykamell]

Got them all with 4:05 remaining. Got stuck on shrimp for a few seconds, only to realize I spelled it "shirmp." Doh!

Many of these have multiple plurals, so it's more a test on whether you know your classic plurals.

[pulykamell]

All right with a few minutes to spare. There were a few odd bits where it accepted something but then put a different answer in the box. Is it designed with fuzzy logic?

Yeah, I noticed it accepted "bureaus." I was just about to hit delete, realizing that they were probably expecting "bureaux," given the nature of the quiz, but it took "bureaus" and stuck "bureaux" in the table.

[fachverwirrt]

Got 'em all with 3:05 remaining. Would have been faster if I could type.

No, the "real" Latin plural is "octopodes", which they do accept (it transforms it into "octopi" in the answer box). Although " octopuses" is a perfectly acceptable English plural.

Well, no. Octopodes is the real Greek plural. Octopus being a Greek word and all. It doesn't have a Latin plural.

[Kaspar Hauser]

got all with 3:07 remaining. The one I got stuck on?

[spoiler:1td8hshx]Dice, for "die"[/spoiler:1td8hshx]

Don't feel bad about it. I did it with 3:10 remaining and was stuck with the last one for a looong time:
[spoiler:1td8hshx]Data, for datum[/spoiler:1td8hshx]