plural form of elf

Find more words! Only Language Geniuses Know The Plural Forms Of The Hardest 33 Words In English. Serf, for example, gets pluralized with a standard –s: serfs. Quanta . (in folklore) one of a class of preternatural beings, especially from mountainous regions, with magical powers, given to capricious and often mischievous interference in human affairs, and usually imagined to be a diminutive being in human form; sprite; fairy. A question surrounding a hard-working plural. In early folklore, elves were known as mischievous creatures that did anything from causing trouble to stealing children. ... What is the correct plural of 'quantum'? A noun comparable to elf that went its own route when it came to establishing a plural is dwarf. Modern use of the word elf almost always shows up in the plural as elves, with the spelling elfs turning up on infrequent occasions: Size doesn’t matter much in the world of elves. ), the plural of which was *elfenna, -elfen, from Proto-Germanic *albinjo-. Are You Good at Plurals? The declension of Elf as a table with all forms in singular (singular) and plural (plural) and in all four cases nominative (1st case), genitive (2nd case), dative (3rd case) and accusative (4th case). Both words survived into Middle English and were active there, the former as elf (with the vowel of the plural), plural elves, the latter as elven, West Midlands dialect alven (plural elvene). ), Old English had parallel form *elfen (fem. Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” describes the visitor as “a right jolly old elf.” In 1850, Louisa May Alcott completed a manuscript entitled Christmas Elves, but it was never published. Looking for something else? Declension Elf Inflections of 'elf' (n noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc. The two elves approached the last goblin, still stuck to the ground, from both sides. The preferred plural of elf is elves, following the grammar of shelf and shelves or wolf and wolves. 1.1.1. Same with briefs, beliefs, roofs, and reliefs, as well as just about all words ending in double-f: tariffs, bailiffs, sheriffs, cliffs, mastiffs, bluffs, cuffs, earmuffs. Elves have been part of Germanic folklore since medieval times, where they were usually depicted as having a similar appearance to humans. January 14, 2014 at 12:14 am. An elf can refer to a mystical being with magical powers from folklore, modern fantasy, or Santa’s helpers. Word Forms +-singular: elf: plural: elves: DEFINITIONS 1. You must get at least 29/33 to ace this test. (obsolete) A female elf, a fairy, nymph 1.1. The plural form of elk remains the same in both American English and British English. Although elfs may occasionally be found in print the accepted modern plural form of elf is elves. We speak of the leaves on the trees, a den of thieves, two halves making a whole. This involves opening and closing the glottis, which is in the larynx. 1. a small imaginary person with magic powers. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! How to use a word that (literally) drives some pe... Do you know these earlier meanings of words? A poem called “The Wonders of Santa Claus,” published by Harper’s Weekly in 1857, describes the legend: “In his house upon the top of a hill, / And almost out of sight, / He keeps a great many elves at work, / All working with all their might.” An American women’s magazine called Godey’s Lady’s Book is credited with one of the earliest depictions of elves as toy workers assisting Santa, with workshop illustrations adorning the cover of its 1873 Christmas issue. Elf derives from Old English. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, the elves are almost as small as insects. The oldest use of elfs cited by OED is in John Dryden’s Fables, Ancient and Modern from 1700. humpadumpa says . As plurals of elf, both elfs and elves have long histories in English, and there is plenty of precedent for both, but elves has always been the more common form by far, and it remains so to this day. Slippery Words Quiz—Changing with the Times. Check out words from the year you were born and more! This rule doesn’t apply to all such nouns, however. Download Grammarly's app to help with eliminating grammar errors and finding the right words. By then, use of elves as the preferred plural for the creature was well established in English, following the example set by many other nouns that end in an –f that converts to a v when the noun in pluralized: shelf becomes shelves; scarf (usually) becomes scarves; wolf and calf becomes wolves and calves. You must get at least 29/33 to ace this test. | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples 1) Elfs 2) Elves. In more modern folklore, elves tend to be regarded as industrious and helpful, rather than havoc-wreaking. 1) Elfs 2) Elves. A word’s etymology can reveal a lot about the changes a word has gone through to get to where it is today in modern English. Times (Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Later, elves were reestablished as helpful beings, before becoming prominent in Christmas narratives as assistants to Santa Claus in his workshop. Elves is the plural form of the noun elf, which refers to a fantasy creature. (She was so fair and happy and seemed elegant, an elfefrom anothe… In the Highlands of Scotland, new-born children are watched till the christening is over, lest they should be stolen or changed by some of these phantastical existences.”. The album is never finished until it's on the shelves! Especially for German learners the correct declension of the word Elf is crucial. You must get at least 29/33 to ace this test. — The Portland Press Herald, 9 Dec. 2019, Based on the classic by J.R.R. Biden sworn in as 46th President, impeach ): npl plural noun: Noun always used in plural form--for example, "jeans," "scissors. testyourknowledge.club. The latter form, moreover, is mostly shunned by English reference books and doesn’t pass spell check, … However, the details of these beliefs have varied … Over the rolling plains of Edelwilde walk giants, dwarfs, elves, fairies and many other creatures unknown to the rest of the world. Later, elves were reestablished as helpful beings, before becoming prominent in Christmas narratives as assistants to Santa Claus in his workshop. Elfs . . The mischievous creature known as the elf seems to turn up in all kinds of narrative universes—from the Brothers Grimm to Middle Earth to Harry Potter. A selection of words from the chillier parts of t... Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz! ), 10 May 2019, Santa will fly in with two of his elfs, and Santa’s chair will be propped up so children can see Santa. Such creatures also turn up in advertising, where they are known for, among other things, making cookies inside a tree. — The Edmond Sun (Oklahoma), 14 Dec. 2018. Explanation: I did the test and got it right. Elves . Correct! Learn a new word every day. Armed rioters storm Capitol building. Looking for something else? noun, plural elves [elvz]. Elves were a ripe subject for poets ranging from Chaucer to Shakespeare to Dryden, though no consensus could seem to be reached on how to render the plural. Then there are those nouns that end in –fe: wife and knife become wives and knives. New questions in English. Scho was so faire & so fresche, as faucon hire semed, An elfe out of an-othire erde, or ellis an Aungell.— The Wars of Alexander, 1450 1.1.1. Illustrations usually depict Santa’s elves as short and smiling creatures wearing green. Arthur. Spelling, in this case, is determined by phonetics. This follows the common method of pluralizing nouns in English … . At various times, elves were believed to cause illness in humans or cattle; to cause people to have bad dreams by sitting upon them while they slept; or to swoop in and steal young children, replacing them with changelings. (Terry Brooks). Prev Article Next Article . . The preferred plural of elf is elves, following the grammar of shelf and shelves or wolf and wolves. The appearance of elves in Christmas narratives became prominent in the United States in the 19th century. What is the plural form of "Elf"? The story now best known as “The Elves and the Shoemaker,” in which the creatures work during the night to help an indigent merchant, was published in the German Grimm’s Fairy Tales as “Die Wichtelmänner”; Margaret Hunt chose “The Elves” as the title when the story was translated into English in 1884. Vocational rather than academic, "Grammar for Grown-ups" is packed with real-life examples and keeps you engaged with a wealth of great quotations from Homer the Greek to Homer the Simpson. What is the correct plural of 'cactus'? Nouns ending in -a, -o, -i, -u, -ië or a consonant forms a plural with the ending -r.For example, the word Elda has the plural form Eldar; the word Ainu has the plural form Ainur etc. In 21st-century edited writing, it appears many times more often than elfs. Find more answers. ), the plural of which was *elfenna, -elfen, from Proto-Germanic *albinjo-. To pluralize ''elf'' you can't just add an ''s'' like you do with many other nouns. Arthurian. And of course, Santa Claus relies on a workforce of these tiny individuals to make the toys he delivers to children every December. In addition to elf / ælf (masc. The History and Origin of the Word. Only Language Geniuses Know The Plural Forms Of The Hardest 33 Words In English. elves (elf ), Mythology (in folklore) one of a class of preternatural beings, esp. Tolkien, “The Hobbit Play” will feature 44 M.V. Some nouns have a fixed plural form and take a plural verb. House impeaches Trump again, insurrection — The M.V. The second edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1777–84) calls the word elf “obsolete” but reports that belief in such creatures “still subsists in many parts of our own country. Instead, ''elf'' is one of those less common nouns that you have... See full answer below. You must get at least 29/33 to ace this test. In the epic poem Beowulf, which dates to around the 10th century, elves (rendered as ylfe) are among a “woeful breed” of creatures descended from the biblical son Cain. Chief, despite ending in the same three letters as thief, gets pluralized as chiefs. Parents’ is used in the plural form for both parents, so there is an apostrophe after the letter -s, as in parents’ house. Charter School students … there will be singing dwarves, dancing hobbits, and elves, along with other characters—Gollum, trolls, goblins, and even a dragon. The voiceless \f\ sound that ends these words became a voiced \v\ simply by habit of speech when the word in question was pluralized. Delivered to your inbox! For example, the … This game also comes with “bonus” game cards which you can include in the game or leave out depending on your preference. Plural Form. In early folklore, elves were known as mischievous creatures that did anything from causing trouble to stealing children. — J.R.R. from mountainous regions, with magical powers, given to capricious and often mischievous … An elf (plural: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore.In medieval Germanic-speaking cultures, elves seem generally to have been thought of as beings with magical powers and supernatural beauty, ambivalent towards everyday people and capable of either helping or hindering them. This is because the word is first pluralized to parents with the addition of the letter -s and then cannot have another -s added to show possession, thus an apostrophe is added in front of the whole. The plural form of elf is elves . The noun shelf adheres to the standard rules for forming the plurals of nouns in English (shown in the table below). The plural form of "elf" is "elves". a diminutive person, especially a child. The plural of elf is elves . Elves is the standard plural form for elf according to the OED and it cites examples going back to Shakespear’s The Tempest from 1623 and Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan from 1651. Elf definition: In fairy stories , elves are small magical beings who play tricks on people. elf (elf ), n., pl. . 5 minutes ago In what ways might it … One of the best ways to understand a word is to learn where it came from. Synonyms and related words +-Characters in stories. (Rita Ora) Shelves are normally made of strong materials such as wood, bamboo, or steel. One characteristic of sounds is that they are either voiced (with vibrating vocal chords) or voiceless (without vibrating vocal chords). While both dwarfs and dwarves have demonstrated historical use for the noun (which, like elf, derives from Old English), the preference for dwarfs was perhaps encouraged by the title of Disney’s 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 'Nip it in the butt' or 'Nip it in the bud'? Words From 1921: 100 Years Old and Still Around, Set your young readers up for lifelong success. ... What is the correct plural of 'elf'? They are not used in the singular, or they have a different meaning in the singular. Both words survived into Middle English and were active there, the former as elf (with the vowel of the plural), plural elves, the latter as elven, West Midlands dialect alven (plural elvene). (noun) His work on The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies, left in MS. and incomplete (the remainder is in the Laing MSS., Edinburgh University library), was published (a hundred copies) in 1815 by Sir Walter Scott, and in the Bibliotheque de Carabas (Lang) there is a French translation. The plural form is used to mark more than one specific thing. Note: this also works for the plural forms of both self and elf – as in, “Apply your-elves (apply yourselves),” and “Pull your-elves together.” Self*→ Elf*: As in, “An elf ish (selfish) person,” and “ Elf less (selfless) bravery,” and “I won’t stand for such elf ishness (selfishness).” In addition to elf / ælf (masc. (Terry Brooks) In A Midsummer Night's Dream, the elves are almost as small as insects. We can work on verb tenses, describing, prepositions, answering questions, and even the plural form of “elf!” This is a regular memory matching game so students will easily know what to do. Tolkien, The Hobbit, 1937, In a foreword to The Hobbit, Tolkien acknowledged that dwarfs was the “only correct plural” of dwarf, but that he had opted for dwarves “only when speaking of the ancient people to whom Thorin Oakenshield and his companions belonged.”, inaugurate, inauguration We Added New Words to the Dictionary for January 2021, Study Up With Our Official SCRABBLE Dictionary. Nouns like this include: trousers, jeans, glasses, savings, thanks, steps, stairs, customs, congratulations, tropics, … Nouns ending in -ë forms the plural form by having the plural suffix -i replace the final vowel. What does elves mean? ), Old English had parallel form *elfen (fem. What is the plural form of "Elf"? A world in which elves exist and magic works offers greater opportunities to digress and explore. Most People Don\\\’t Know The Plural Form of These Words. The noun elf adheres to the standard rules for forming the plurals of nouns in English (shown in the table below). casiupper casiupper Answer: Elves. ": elves (incorrect spelling, use elvesinstead) Elvesis the correct spelling for the plural form of the noun elf. Elf. elfe (plural elfen or elfene) 1. The Plural of Shelf The plural of shelf is shelves. Correct! Do you disagree with something on this page. In Germanic folklore, the term elf referred to any of a variety of creatures, usually of small stature, not necessarily out to cause harm but always mischievous. That might have been due partly to popular perception of elves as distinctly belonging to past times, leading to a scarcity of the word’s occurrence in then-contemporary prose. This follows the common method of pluralizing nouns in English … noun, plural [... Having a similar appearance to humans explanation: I did the test and got right... Word in question was pluralized from the chillier parts of t... your... Example, gets pluralized as chiefs, still stuck to the standard rules forming... Plural verb 'quantum ' and explore vibrating vocal chords ) and take a verb... Up for lifelong success the preferred plural of shelf is shelves … in to. Stuck to the Dictionary for January 2021, Study up with our SCRABBLE. ( Rita Ora ) shelves are normally made of strong materials such as wood, bamboo, or.! 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