Editing English plurals (section)

===Plurals of compound nouns===
The majority of English [[Compound (linguistics)|compound]] nouns have one basic term, or [[head (linguistics)|head]], with which they end. These are nouns and are pluralized in typical fashion:
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|able seaman||able seamen
|-
|head banger||head bangers
|-
|yellow-dog contract||yellow-dog contracts
}}}}

Some compounds have one head with which they begin. These heads are also nouns and the head usually pluralizes, leaving the second, usually a [[post-positive adjective]], term unchanged:
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|attorney general||attorneys general
|-
|bill of attainder||bills of attainder
|-
|coat-of-arms||coats-of-arms
|-
|court martial||courts martial
|-
|[[director general]]||directors general
|-
|[[fee simple absolute]]||fees simple absolute
|-
|governor-general||governors-general
|-
|passerby||passersby
|-
|poet laureate||poets laureate
|-
|ship of the line||ships of the line
|-
|son-in-law||sons-in-law
|-
|chief of staff||chiefs of staff
|-
|[[procurator fiscal]]<!-- Geographic scope not pointed out elsewhere, don't bother here either --> ||procurators fiscal
}}}}

It is common in informal speech to pluralize the last word instead, like most English nouns, but in edited prose aimed at educated people, the forms given above are usually preferred.

If a compound can be thought to have two heads, both of them tend to be pluralized when the first head has an irregular plural form:{{Citation needed|reason=Double plural usage is rare, not common|date=December 2018}}
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|man-child||men-children
|-
|manservant||menservants
|-
|woman doctor||women doctors (no longer in common use)
}}}}

Two-headed compounds in which the first head has a standard plural form, however, tend to pluralize only the final head:
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|city-state||city-states
|-
|nurse-practitioner||nurse-practitioners
|-
|scholar-poet||scholar-poets
}}}}

In military and naval usage, the terms ''general'', ''colonel'', and ''commander'', as part of an officer's title, are etymologically adjectives, but they have been adopted as nouns and are thus heads, so compound titles employing them are pluralized at the end:
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|brigadier general||brigadier generals
|-
|lieutenant commander||lieutenant commanders
|-
|lieutenant colonel||lieutenant colonels
|-
|major general||major generals
}}}}

For compounds of three or more words that have a head (or a term functioning as a head) with an irregular plural form, only that term is pluralized:
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|-
|man-about-town||men-about-town
|-
|man-of-war/man-o'-war||men-of-war/men-o'-war
|-
|cat-o'-nine-tails||cats-o'-nine-tails
|-
|woman of the street||women of the street
}}}}

For many other compounds of three or more words with a head at the front—especially in cases where the compound is ''ad hoc'' or the head is metaphorical—it is generally regarded as acceptable to pluralize either the first major term or the last (if open when singular, such compounds tend to take hyphens when plural in the latter case):
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|-
|ham on rye||hams on rye/ham-on-ryes
|-
|jack-in-the-box||jacks-in-the-box/jack-in-the-boxes
|-
|jack-in-the-pulpit||jacks-in-the-pulpit/jack-in-the-pulpits
}}}}

With a few extended compounds, both terms may be pluralized—again, with an alternative (which may be more prevalent, e.g. ''heads of state''):
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|-
|head of state||heads of states/heads of state
|-
|son of a bitch||sons of bitches/sons-of-a-bitch
}}}}

In some extended compounds constructed around ''o'', only the last term is pluralized (or left unchanged if it is already plural):
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|-
|jack-o'-lantern||jack-o'-lanterns
|-
|will-o'-the-wisp||will-o'-the-wisps
}}}}

See also the [[#Headless nouns|Headless nouns]] section below.

====French compounds====
Many English compounds have been [[loanword|borrowed]] directly from [[French language|French]], and these generally follow a somewhat different set of rules. In French loaned compounds with a noun as head and a qualifying adjective, it is correct to pluralize both words, in common with French practice. Usually in French, the noun precedes the adjective:
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|-
|agent provocateur||agents provocateurs
|-
|entente cordiale||ententes cordiales
|-
|fait accompli||faits accomplis
|-
|idée fixe||idées fixes
}}}}
In some expressions, the adjective precedes the noun, in which case it is still correct to pluralize both words, in common with French practice, although in the English form sometimes only the noun is pluralized:<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/plural_problems.php|title=Plural problems|work=Columbia Journalism Review|access-date=2018-01-31}}</ref>
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|-
|beau geste||beaux gestes / beau gestes
|-
|belle époque||belles époques / belle époques
|-
|bon mot||bons mots / bon mots
|-
|bon vivant||bons vivants / bon vivants
}}}}
However, if the adjectives ''beau'' "beautiful/handsome", ''nouveau'' "new", or ''vieux'' "old" precede a singular noun beginning with a vowel or a mute ''h'' (such as ''homme''), they are changed to ''bel'' (as in the example below), ''nouvel'', or ''vieil'' (to facilitate pronunciation in French). In these cases, both the noun and the adjective are pluralized in the English form as in French:
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|-
|bel homme||beaux hommes
}}}}
In other French compound expressions, only the head noun is pluralized:
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|-
|aide-de-camp||aides-de-camp
|-
|coup d'état||coups d'état
|-
|cri du cœur / cri du coeur||cris du cœur / cris du coeur
|-
|cul-de-sac||culs-de-sac
|-
|fleur-de-lis||fleurs-de-lis
|-
|tour de force||tours de force
}}}}
''but'':
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|-
|tête-à-tête||tête-à-têtes||(In French the plural form is the same as the singular form.)
}}}}