Which is the corect plural word for genus? My book says Genii but my english teacher (who has a Ph.D. in english) says it is genuses. plz i want to know.
2006-10-12 13:21:19 · 7 answers · asked by conƒused-little-man 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
OOOOHHHHH! so genuses is plural in english and genii is plural in Latin.
2006-10-12 13:38:51 · update #1
In Latin, second declension nouns that end in -us have -i as the plural (radius, radii). Third declension nouns that end in -us will either have -es or -a as the plural (opus, opera and your example, genus, genera). Fourth declension nouns that end in -us have -us as the plural (spiritus, spiritus).
It is common for Latin words that have been absorbed into the English language to use English plurals (antenna, antennae becomes antennas, and octopus, octopi becomes octopuses). This is the case with your word, genus. Your book that says genii is wrong. There are only two correct plurals in English, the Latin genera and the English genuses. Genera is listed first, so it is the more commonly accepted plural.
2006-10-12 16:20:27 · answer #1 · answered by Jeannie 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
How about none of the above? The proper plural is genera. The Anglicized plural would be genuses, perhaps acceptable in casual conversation, but definitely not in the scientific fields. Genii is gibberish - totally meaningless with respect to the word genus. It appears that someone is trying to make a pseudo-Latin plural. Many Latin nouns end in "us" and form their plural (at least in nominative case) with an "i", but that would be "geni" - only one "i". Since genus is from Greek anyway, neither genii or geni would be right.
2016-05-21 21:37:52 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your English teacher needs a a refresher course in Latin. If you're talking about the Linnaean taxonomic group that falls between family and species, the plural is genera.
2006-10-12 13:34:27 · answer #3 · answered by Scott F 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I believe you are asking about "genus", a biological taxonomic division. If so:
The plural is "genera", however, "genuses" is acceptable but not within the scientific community. "Genii" is wrong in all cases.
2006-10-12 13:31:24 · answer #4 · answered by jbgot2bfree 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The word genus has probably been sufficiently absorbed into English to have aquired the English plural (-es.)
You might sound slightly pretentious trying to use the Latin plural, but it is up to you.
2006-10-12 13:28:10 · answer #5 · answered by KdS 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the plural of "genius" is "geniuses." The form "genii," the plural of the word in Latin, is the plural of a different kind of genius: the aforementioned guardian spirit of Roman and Greek mythology.
2006-10-12 13:29:27 · answer #6 · answered by not2shabby abby 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
genera i think??
2006-10-12 13:27:08 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋