If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth?

Answer 1

I dunno. Good question. I found this poem about it one time. Hold up, let me look. Okay, here we go.

"Why English Is So Hard
Anonymous

We'll begin with box, the plural is boxes.
But the plural of ox should be oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of mouse is never meese.
You may find a lone mouse, or a whole nest of mice,
But the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always men,
Why shoulnd't the plural of pan be called pen?
The cow in the plural may be called cows or kine,
But a bow, if repeated, is never called bine;
And the plural of vow is vows, not vine.

If I speak of a foot and you show me two feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?
If the singular's this, and the plural these,
Should the plural of kiss ever be written kese?
We speak of a brother, and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say mothren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his, and him,
But imagine the feminine, she, shis, and shim!
So English, I think you all will agree,
Is the funniest language you ever did see."

Answer 2

In the English language, singular and plural are the only grammatical numbers.

In English, nouns, pronouns, and demonstratives inflect for plurality. (See English plural.) In many other languages, for example German and the various Romance languages, articles and adjectives also inflect for plurality. For example, in the English sentence "the brown cats run," only the noun and verb are inflected; but in the French sentence "les chats bruns courent," every word (article, noun, adjective, and verb) is inflected.

In many languages, including a number of Indo-European languages, there is also a dual number (used for indicating two objects). Some other grammatical numbers present in various languages include nullar (for no objects), trial (for three objects) and paucal (for a few objects). In languages with dual, trial, or paucal numbers, plural refers to numbers higher than those (i.e. more than two, more than three, or many).

Some languages distinguish between a plural and a greater plural. A greater plural refers to an abnormally large number for the object of discussion. It should also be noted that the distinction between the paucal and the plural and the greater plural is often relative to the type of object under discussion. For example, for oranges the paucal number might imply less than ten, whereas for the population of a country it might be used for a few hundred thousand.

Answer 3

And if the plural of mouse is mice, how come the plural of house isn't hice? And the plural of criterion is criteria, but the plural of ion isn't ia??

Answer 4

If the plural of mouse is "mice," why isn't the plural of spouse "spice"?

Answer 5

same as the question if the plural of goose is geese then why isn't the plural of moose meese? lol

Answer 6

Mouse/mice
House/hice?

Answer 7

Because people would think you were asking, "Where's the beef?", and had a bad speech impediment, but were too polite to say anything.

Answer 8

because English is a ridiculous combination of other languages so it follows everyones rules, or no ones, and then some. kinda funny isnt it? keeps us on our toes and all . . .

Answer 9

Becuz the guy that evented the english language was drunk.

Answer 10

because the English language is confusing like that!