Chances are... if you are reading this post you're probably an English student trying to get to or stay in the advanced level. Understandably, you think the classroom material you covered years ago is somehow "beneath you". Stuff like relative sentences, prepositions and irregular plurals are "a thing of the past", which is why you probably prefer to center on truly advanced content: lexical accuracy (epaulet, flout, etc.), inversions (seldom would I dream of...), emphatic structures (an opinion he voiced in no uncertain terms) and that sort of thing. Fair enough. That's a healthy C1 obsession. And if you're inching towards the coveted C2 certificate you may even choose brood over he subtle semantic differences between terms such as masterful and masterly.
Okay. I'm painting something of a caricature. I know. Still, deep down, you know what I'm talking about here, right?
Let's just consider the following situation (which is, by the way, no caricature). Imagine you are reading the press and you stumble upon this:
Now, as the European Union regulators edge closer to approving two of those vaccines...
You stop reading, go online and look up the verb to edge. You immediately realize that its meaning is quite specific: "to move gradually". That is a word you need to incorporate right away (because you're a bit of a word nerd). Somehow, while you look for your vocabulary notebook on your cluttered desk, you vaguely remember a synonymous verb (to inch), which your teacher used in his blog (check out line 7 of this post). Anyway, you finally find the notebook and jot down the word "edge" and its meaning. Who knows? You might also take down a sentence that illustrates how to use the term in a real context. Some days later you decide to use the recently acquired word. So you say:
We're edging close to face a new economic crisis
The sentence does not conform to the grammar rules of the English language. After the adverb close you use the "-ing" form of a verb. Just reread the sentence above ("...edge closer to approving..."). What does this little thought experiment tell us? The answer is quite clear. You may learn an "advanced" word but fail to use it properly due to "intermediate" issues.
This is why I've decided to revisit B1 material and by that I mean prepositions, singular/plural forms, etc. Just this week I touched on the case of weird plurals. Yes. In my C1.2 class we read an article about the kind of life that papparazzi lead. I mentioned that the singular form of papparazzi is, of course, papparazzo. I went on to remind my students that the plural of nucleus is nuclei and the plural of kibutz is kibutzim. I added that this state of affairs makes many native speakers rather uncomfortable, which explains why some language users will write several ultimata but most people prefer the regular several ultimatums.
Of course it's not only Latin terms and loanwords that have unusual plural forms. Take the case of "secretary general". What is its plural form? It is "secretaries general". I know. It feels bizarre, but that's the way it is. Is it possible, then, to be learning sophisticated grammar and make basic mistakes? I'm afraid it is, but the solution to that is extremely simple. Read up on the subject!
I'll give you two options.
Option A
If you feel like brushing up on your plurals you can read this enjoyable article by Arika Okrent, which discusses some words that have no singular form.
Option B
If you are curious about the history of irregular plurals in English the video below is an entertaining condensed lesson that will put things into some kind of perspective. Have fun.
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N.B. Word to the wise: check your Educantabria mailbox you should soon receive an email informing you that there's a new quiz ready for you. If you are a C1.1 student the test will be about ways of describing "importance" without using the word "important". Students in the C1.2 and C2 courses will take a quiz about singular and plural forms. Don't panic if your score is not too high. Both quizzes are really challenging. I haven't designed them to boost your self-esteem but rather to teach you some necessary grammar/vocabulary.
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