Question

Identify the plural form of the word ‘criterion’ from the options given below:
a. Criteriens
b. Criterias
c. Criterion’s
d. criteria

Answer 1

Hint: Some plural words are exceptions to the rule and do not follow the addition of ‘s’ at the end of the word. They have their own special endings.

Complete answer:

In its most basic sense, the singular is something that is single. It is a single item as opposed to many. In contrast to this, plural stands for many. You could say that it is the opposite of singular as they are two contrary concepts. There are many ways of making a noun plural. The most basic way is to an ‘s’ to the end of the word. E.g. horse - horses.
There are many other ways of making a noun plural. The method of making a word plural depends on its endings. Words that have the ending ‘ife’ like life and knife change into lives and knives. Words that end with ‘ss’ like dress and loss change into dresses and losses.
Similarly, there are some words that end with the ending ‘ion’. Such words can be made plural by removing the ending of on and replacing it with a. For e.g. the plural form of the word phenomenon is phenomena.
The question given above also follows a similar rule. The plural form of a criterion is known as criteria. Therefore, option ‘d’ is the correct answer.

Note: Do not consider any of the other options to be the proper answer because they end with ‘s’. These words do not exist and are, therefore, incorrect.