Grammar Mistakes that Intelligent People Make – Confusing Plurals

I am watching a financial show on CNBC, and Eric, an executive with the Siemens company, is a guest on the program. He is a pulled-together chap, generally well-spoken, but he has just said something that made me want to write another "Grammar Mistakes" article. There are a lot of grammar and usage pitfalls in English, a language cobbled together from many other languages, each with their own sets of rules and pronunciation and spelling. I get it; it's hard. That's why your Grammar Diva is here to help you!

So, what was it that Eric said that made my toes curl, but not in the good way? He used the word "processes". And he used it correctly, more or less. The "less" part is that he pronounced it "process-eeze". Argh. I hear this kind of thing all too often; people who are intelligent and well-educated can frequently make this error, especially when trying to sound intelligent and well-educated, ironically enough, because they are aware that some plural words do indeed end in an "eeze" sound when ending in -es. However, these words are few and far between. The staggering majority of words that end in -es, for example, actresses, convalescences, sentences, seances, buttresses, glasses, continuances, senses, and yes, processes, are pronounced the easy way. Just say "es" with that schwa sound and a soft (sibilant) or hard (like a "z") "s". I don't think anyone thinks "actresses" is pronounced "actresseeze", and you can safely assume most other -es words do not follow that pattern.

Well, which ones do, then? Obviously there are a few out there, setting a confusing example. Words ending in -is, such as "crisis", "synopsis", and "diagnosis" are the main culprits, as these words change to an -es ending in their plural form that is indeed pronounced "-eeze"; hence, "crises" (KRY-seez), "synopses" (sin-OP-seez), and "diagnoses" (DY-ag-NOH-seez). By the way, please don't confuse "synopses" with "synapses", whose -es ending is pronounced the normal, non-eezy way. Also please note that the -es ending is not an addition to these words, it is a change. I cannot begin to count how many times I have heard some poor soul utter the word "crisises" (pronounced "crisis-eeze", of course; close, but no cookie).

Another group of words that takes the "-eeze" ending in the plural form are words ending in -ex, such as "index" (indices) and "vortex" (vortices). So, if you hear someone referring to "heat indices", she has not lost her mind, she is just being learned. That said, however, it is perfectly okay to say "indexes" and "vortexes", according to Merriam-Webster and other sources. Also apparently according to my Spell Check, which is furiously underlining the -ices words. Suck it up, Spell Check! (Click here for my love/hate relationship with Spell Check.)

So, to recap: Words whose singular form ends in -is take the -es ending that is pronounced "eeze". Words whose singular forms end in -ex can, but do not have to, take the -ices ending that is pronounced "iss-eeze", as in "indices" (IND-iss-eeze) and "vortices" (VORT-iss-eeze). All other words ending in -ces, -ses or -sses are pronounced the normal way, with a short "e," or really a schwa sound, and a sibilant (hissing) "s" or "z" sound, not a long "e" and a "z" sound. In other words, it's very rare that you will be using the "eeze" ending. When in doubt, go with the non-fancy pronunciation.

So pleeeeeze, dispense with the unnecessary "eeze"! Your Grammar Diva thanks you.