Plural issues. Plural issues as linguistic doubts

When we establish contact with linguistic facts, sometimes governed by normative grammar, we come across different questions of an orthographic, semantic, syntactic, in short order. This fact is considered acceptable, given the complexity demarcated by the existing rules and exceptions in grammar.
The fact is that this cannot be a stigma, to the point that you conceive language as something disgusting, undesirable. So, in order to avoid possible confusion, as well as in order to broaden your knowledge about such facts, check now some plural questions.
* The plural of Curriculum Vitae:
As this is a Latin term, the ideal is that you just choose to say “the résumés”, making use of our good old Portuguese.
* Enough or Enough?
In this case, we have to differentiate between adjective and adverb, given that the latter does not accept any inflection, and the former allows it to be inflected. Therefore, note:
We are very concerned.
Here it works as an adverb, thus remaining invariable.
There were plenty of orders.


Here, it is already an adjective, which qualifies the noun “orders”, variable, therefore.
* Fax or faxes?
“Fax” is derived from English, in a reduction of facsimile, whose plural is given by facsimiles. However, as it is a means of transmission, it would be correct to say only “we send the photos by fax”. Thus, following the same rule as onyx and duplex, given the occurrence of being ending in “x”, we have: one fax, three faxes and so on.
However, the “-es” ending has been allowed. Therefore, we can say “fax”, when expressed in the singular; and “faxes”, in the plural. Even because the Houaiss dictionary registers them in this way.

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Vania Duarte
Graduated in Letters

Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:

DUARTE, Vânia Maria do Nascimento. "Plural issues"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/gramatica/questoes-plural.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.

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