商務(wù)英語(yǔ)郵件寫作指南：詞組的復(fù)數(shù)要怎么加？
As you know, in English you generally make a word plural by adding an ‘s’ at the end. There seems to be some confusion, though, about how to make plurals of terms made up of more than one word. For example, do you say bicycles shops or bicycle shops? Do you say power of attorneys or powers of attorney?
眾所周知，在英語(yǔ)中要把一個(gè)名詞變成復(fù)數(shù)，只要在這個(gè)詞的后面加上“s”就行了。不過(guò)，當(dāng)一個(gè)名詞變成了由幾個(gè)名詞組成的詞組時(shí)，就讓人摸不著頭腦了。舉個(gè)例子，如果你要表示自行車商店的復(fù)數(shù)形式，你是用“bicycles shop”還是“bicycle shops”？在表示授權(quán)書(shū)的復(fù)數(shù)時(shí)，你是說(shuō)“power of attorneys”還是“powers of attorney”？
The answers are bicycle shops and powers of attorney.
正確的說(shuō)法是“bicycle shops”和“powers of attorney”。
The rule is that you pluralise the “head” of the term.
名詞詞組復(fù)數(shù)變化的規(guī)則就是：變“重點(diǎn)詞”。
The term bicycle shop is typical of most noun groups. The “head” is the last word in the group. The previous word or words act as an adjective. So the last word in the group is pluralised. Here are some more examples:
“自行車商店”這個(gè)名詞詞組是一個(gè)很典型的例子。在這個(gè)詞組中，重點(diǎn)詞是最后一個(gè)詞，即商店（shop）；前面的詞或者詞組只是起到了一個(gè)形容詞的修飾作用而已。因此，在這個(gè)詞組中，最后一個(gè)詞變成了復(fù)數(shù)形式。更多類似的例子：
Bank account => Bank accounts
銀行賬戶
Company car => Company cars
公司用車
Price limit => Price limits
價(jià)格限制
Termination notice => Termination notices
終止通知
Service charge payment => Service charge payments
服務(wù)費(fèi)收費(fèi)
Employee share option scheme => Employee share option schemes
雇員股份認(rèn)購(gòu)權(quán)計(jì)劃
However, a term like power of attorney acts rather differently. Power is the “head” and of attorney is an adjectival phrase which describes the “head”. Here are some other examples of terms that behave in the same way:
然而，像授權(quán)書(shū)這樣的詞組就又是另外一番解釋了。在這個(gè)詞組中，重點(diǎn)詞是權(quán)利（power），律師（attorney）一詞只是用來(lái)充當(dāng)形容詞的修飾成分。
Article of association => Articles of association
更多類似的例子：
Code of conduct => Codes of conduct
公司章程
Conflict of interest => Conflicts of interest
行為守則
Course of action => Courses of action
利益沖突
Notary public => Notaries public
行動(dòng)步驟
Statement of claim => Statements of claim
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