中文「一個小孩、兩個小孩、十個小孩」——「小孩」不變。英文數字 + 名詞：名詞複數必須變形。而且麻煩的是——最常用的幾個字都是不規則。

為什麼是 Taiwanese 特有錯誤

兩層困難：

  1. 中文沒複數標記
  2. 英文不規則複數沒有邏輯，只能背

結果：two childs, three foots, five mans, many womans 都是常見錯誤。

必背不規則複數（第一級）

| 單數 | 複數 | 誤譯 | |------|------|-----| | child | children | ❌ childs | | man | men | ❌ mans | | woman | women | ❌ womans | | person | people | ❌ persons (法律用) | | foot | feet | ❌ foots | | tooth | teeth | ❌ tooths | | mouse | mice | ❌ mouses | | goose | geese | ❌ gooses |

單複同形（不變）

| 單數 = 複數 | 範例 | |------------|------| | sheep | one sheep / two sheep | | deer | one deer / two deer | | fish | one fish / two fish (兩條魚) / two fishes (兩種魚) | | aircraft | one aircraft / two aircraft | | species | one species / two species | | series | one series / two series |

外來字複數（-um → -a, -us → -i）

| 單數 | 複數 | 來源 | |------|------|-----| | datum | data (現常當單數用) | 拉丁 | | medium | media | 拉丁 | | bacterium | bacteria | 拉丁 | | curriculum | curricula (or curriculums) | 拉丁 | | phenomenon | phenomena | 希臘 | | criterion | criteria | 希臘 | | analysis | analyses | 希臘 | | crisis | crises | 希臘 | | thesis | theses | 希臘 | | basis | bases | 希臘 | | cactus | cacti (or cactuses) | 拉丁 | | fungus | fungi | 拉丁 |

IELTS 常考：data, media, criteria, phenomena——學術文章常用。

規則複數——常錯的變形

| 字尾 | 規則 | 範例 | |------|------|-----| | -s / -sh / -ch / -x | +es | bus → buses, dish → dishes, box → boxes | | 子音 + y | y → ies | city → cities, baby → babies | | 母音 + y | +s | boy → boys, day → days | | -f / -fe | f → ves | leaf → leaves, wife → wives | | 子音 + o | +es | potato → potatoes, tomato → tomatoes | | 母音 + o | +s | video → videos, radio → radios |

例外要注意

  • roof → roofs (不變 ves)
  • chef → chefs (不變 ves)
  • photo → photos (不加 es)
  • piano → pianos (不加 es)

五個 ❌ vs ✅ 高頻對比

| ❌ Wrong | ✅ Correct | |---------|-----------| | There are ten childs in the class. | There are ten children in the class. | | I brushed my tooths. | I brushed my teeth. | | The datas show a clear trend. | The data show a clear trend. (或 shows — 現代用法單數) | | Many womans work in this field. | Many women work in this field. | | I have two leafs from the tree. | I have two leaves from the tree. |

數字 + 名詞的兩個特例

特例 1：複合形容詞當修飾語時不變複數

❌ a five-years-old boy ✅ a five-year-old boy

❌ a three-weeks trip ✅ a three-week trip

規則：名詞當形容詞用（加連字號）—— 用單數。

特例 2：集合量詞

❌ two dozens of eggs ✅ two dozen eggs

❌ three hundreds of people ✅ three hundred people

規則：hundred / thousand / million / dozen / score 配具體數字時不加 s。泛指「幾百」、「幾千」才加：hundreds of people / thousands of dollars。

Quick Drill — 改成正確複數

  1. I saw three (mouse) in the kitchen.
  2. Two (child) are playing outside.
  3. The dentist checked all her (tooth).
  4. Five (sheep) were grazing in the field.
  5. We collected many (leaf) for the art project.
  6. The researcher studied several (phenomenon).
  7. The new (datum) suggest/suggests a clear pattern.
  8. Three (woman) joined the meeting.
  9. The shop sells (knife) and (fork).
  10. I watched two (series) last weekend.

Answer Key

| # | 答案 | |---|------| | 1 | mice | | 2 | children | | 3 | teeth | | 4 | sheep (不變) | | 5 | leaves | | 6 | phenomena | | 7 | data (現代常當單數用：The new data suggests...) | | 8 | women | | 9 | knives / forks | | 10 | series (不變) |

Task 1 Academic 特別重要

描述圖表時常用：The data show... / The figures reveal... / Five countries experienced...

一個單複數錯 = 扣 Grammar 直到 Task 1 結束。寫完 overview 後回頭檢查所有數字 + 名詞組合——2 秒動作，保住 0.5 band。

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