商務英語寫作：詞組的復數要怎么加？
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，在英語中要把一個名詞變成復數，只要在這個詞的后面加上“s”就行了。不過，當一個名詞變成了由幾個名詞組成的詞組時，就讓人摸不著頭腦了。舉個例子，如果你要表示自行車商店的復數形式，你是用“bicycles shop”還是“bicycle shops”?在表示授權書的復數時，你是說“power of attorneys”還是“powers of attorney”?
The answers are bicycle shops and powers of attorney.
正確的說法是“bicycle shops”和“powers of attorney”。
The rule is that you pluralise the “head” of the term.
名詞詞組復數變化的規則就是：變“重點詞”。
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”這個名詞詞組是一個很典型的例子。在這個詞組中，重點詞是最后一個詞，即商店(shop);前面的詞或者詞組只是起到了一個形容詞的修飾作用而已。因此，在這個詞組中，最后一個詞變成了復數形式。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
價格限制
Termination notice => Termination notices
終止通知
Service charge payment => Service charge payments
服務費收費
Employee share option scheme => Employee share option schemes
雇員股份認購權計劃
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，像授權書這樣的詞組就又是另外一番解釋了。在這個詞組中，重點詞是權利(power)，律師(attorney)一詞只是用來充當形容詞的修飾成分。更多類似的例子：
Article of association => Articles of association
公司章程
Code of conduct => Codes of conduct
行為守則
Conflict of interest => Conflicts of interest
利益沖突
Course of action => Courses of action
行動步驟
Notary public => Notaries public
公證人
Statement of claim => Statements of claim
起訴書
本文來自新東方在線論壇
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