i mean fish can be 1 or can be plural, but we also say fishes - plural too. cant we say sheeps or sheepiau or can u think of a plural name?? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
2006-11-11 03:15:06 · 21 answers · asked by cerys 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Trivia
It's a conspiracy. The fish started it.
2006-11-11 03:22:39 · answer #1 · answered by strawberri_shortcake 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
we only say fishes (or we are only supposed to anyway) when there are different kinds of fish. if there are 2 or more of one fish (i.e. goldfish) we say fish, and if there's one we say fish too.
Sheep is like that, except, I guess they don't have different kinds of sheep, so there's no "sheeps." Sheep is a both a singular noun, and a collective noun, like the word family. Family is a unit of more than one person, obviously, but you don't say "the family are eating together" you say "the family IS eating together" because it's a collective noun, and it's only one family.
EDIT: By the way, English is a complex language, so the rules are bent all the time.
2006-11-11 11:25:02 · answer #2 · answered by that one girl 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't know..
Fish, sheep, squid, moose and so on are all collective nouns... so there are no differences in the singular nor plural words.
But sheepiau sounds good!
Do you think collective nouns should put the Welsh plural on the end to make them better?
2006-11-11 19:35:56 · answer #3 · answered by Aaron_J88 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the english language is really confusing. in every rule there is a exception to it. sheep is just the plural for sheep
2006-11-11 14:26:39 · answer #4 · answered by sillygrl1996 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I now get your humour. Sheep are bold but stupid, so why do people say they are being Sheepish when they are being shy?
I think that a plural term could be Sheepies, As in "Here Sheepie Sheepie, Here Sheepie Sheepie. come to daddy now!" or something like that. Not that I know anything about such things and the like!
2006-11-11 16:44:03 · answer #5 · answered by WavyD 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"fishes" is more than a bit archaic. Sheep, fish and moose are both singular and plural, which is meant is derived from context.
2006-11-11 19:42:31 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the plural of goose is geese, shouldn't the plural of moose be meese? If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn't the plural of booth be beeth?
2006-11-11 11:25:00 · answer #7 · answered by drammy22 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because it doesnt fit in the language and fishes is not the "correct" english word!!!
2006-11-11 11:33:37 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because two sheeps sounds silly...
2006-11-15 07:24:51 · answer #9 · answered by ginwargh 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thats the delight of the language.
2006-11-11 11:19:34 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋