Think of hot, dry summers or desert lands and somewhere in the picture you will see a CACTUS. August on the rocky island of Malta might remind you of a desert climate but that’s not why I’m writing about this plant.
Forming the plural of words in English is not always a simple matter of putting an “s” at the end. Think of “leaf” becoming “leaves”; “cherry” becoming “cherries”; “child” becoming “children”, “woman” becoming “women”. The list is quite long and it’s easy to make a misspelling. So become friends with the prickly cactus and it will make your (English language) life easier by offering you three plural forms!
- cactus
- cactuses
- cacti
I have two cactus on my terrace – correct.
I have two cactuses on my terrace – also correct.
I have two cacti on my terrace – even this is correct.
Now you really have no excuse for getting this one wrong again, do you?
Use the language
There’s a creature that lives in the sea which also has 3 plural forms. Do you know which it is?
Related articles
- Cooking with prickly pear cactus pads
- Am I the only one obsessed with Cactus’?! (horizontalhanna.wordpress.com)
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