why is the plural of attorney general attorneys general

by Prof. Wallace Kuhn 10 min read

Because of the vowel before the final letter, this word doesn’t follow the rule of “-y” words turning to “-ies” when pluralized. If you’re talking about an “attorney general,” a specific type of attorney, the plural form is “attorneys general” in the US and “attorney-generals” in the UK. How to pluralize a word ending in -y

With “Attorney General,” general modifies the noun attorney. Thus, when there is more than one Attorney General, you would write “Attorneys General.” This makes sense. You make the noun plural by adding an “s” to it.Feb 18, 2013

Full Answer

What is correct spelling for the plural of attorney?

Feb 18, 2013 · With “Attorney General,” general modifies the noun attorney. Thus, when there is more than one Attorney General, you would write “Attorneys General.” This makes sense. You make the noun plural by adding an “s” to it. The WSJ Law Blog wrote a …

How to spell attorney plural?

Mar 04, 2017 · In the phrase attorney general, attorney is the main part, and the word general is descriptive—it tells us what kind of attorney we have to deal with. It’s the same rule we follow for similar phrases such as sister-in-law and editor in chief. You make the main noun plural: I have two sisters-in-law. The Atlantic has had 14 editors in chief.

What is the job description of an attorney general?

What is the irregular plural for attorney general? Why is it “Attorneys General” (plural) but not “Attorney’s General” (singular possessive)? With “Attorney General,” general modifies the noun attorney. Thus, when there is more than one Attorney General, you would write “Attorneys General.” This makes sense.

What is the plural of durable power of attorney?

This is a holdover from when French was the tongue of the Norman-French overlords and thus the tongue of the government, legal system, and military. The more English way to say it would be the general attorney ... The attorney that represents the general public ... and the plural would be the general attorneys.

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Which is correct attorney generals or attorneys general?

“General” here, though, is an adjective, not a noun; you can think of them as “general attorneys.” So the plural goes on the noun, and the proper form is “attorneys general.” Unless you're British. Then you can call them “attorney-generals,” but don't forget the hyphen.Mar 21, 2016

Is it correct to say attorney generals?

In American English, attorneys general is the correct plural form. The British prefer attorney-generals (the Brits have long hyphenated the phrase).May 1, 2013

How do you make the attorney general possessive?

Applying these rules to attorney general, we see that the plural is attorneys general, the singular possessive is attorney general's, and the plural possessive is attorneys general's.

Are attorney generals called general?

Court documents confirm an attorney general and solicitor general are addressed and referred to as 'General (Surname)' in courtroom settings. Federal and state supreme and appellate court proceedings refer to attorneys general as 'General (Surname)'.Dec 8, 2020

What is plural of attorney?

noun. at·​tor·​ney | \ ə-ˈtər-nē \ plural attorneys.

What is deer in plural form?

noun, plural deer, (occasionally) deers.

Is Saints plural or singular?

saint /ˈseɪnt/ noun. plural saints. saint. /ˈseɪnt/ plural saints.

What is the irregular plural of deer?

The standard (irregular) plural is deer. Occasionally used in the sense of more than one species, especially when appearing in combination (such as red deer / red deers).

What is plural of power of attorney?

power of attorney. plural powers of attorney. Learner's definition of POWER OF ATTORNEY. law.

Is Attorney General a military rank?

Attorneys general are not military officers, have no rank, and therefor should not be referred to as “general”.

What is the difference between chief justice and Attorney General?

In layman terms, Chief Justice is a Judge and Attorney General is a Lawyer, both have distinct roles to play. The Attorney General of India is the highest law officer of the country and he/she is the chief legal advisor to the GoI. He is responsible to assist the government in all its legal matters.Feb 20, 2020

Does each state have an Attorney General?

The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the federal district, or of any of the territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer.

What Is the Plural of 'Deputy Attorney General'?

Update: After the podcast aired, we got an interesting follow-up question: What is the plural of deputy attorney general ?

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Mignon Fogarty is the founder of Quick and Dirty Tips and the author of seven books on language, including the New York Times bestseller " Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing ." She is an inductee in the Podcasting Hall of Fame, and the show is a five-time winner of Best Education Podcast in the Podcast Awards.

Is "general" a compound noun?

It's a compound noun where the second word is basically an adjective that describes the preceding noun, or "head.". In this case, "general" describes "attorney.". Ah, the joy of head-first compound nouns. A regular compound noun - "military funeral," for instance - has the head at the end.

Is "general" an adjective?

The adjective comes before noun ... brigadier general, major general, lieutenant general ... thus brigadier generals, major generals, lieutenant generals. General is the noun, not the adjective, in the military rank. Whereas in attorney general, it is the adjective. To add to AnWulf ... nor in the British army.

What is the job of an attorney general?

Basically, their job is to help local and federal law enforcement agencies and judges uphold the law in their home state.

Is "deer" plural or singular?

English sometimes has plurals that are the same as the singular form (deer and deer, for instance), but more often than not it’s a perplexing task to figure out how to spell the plural of a particular word. That’s because some words have irregular plural spellings. One of those words is “attorney.”.

Is "general" a compound noun?

The word “attorney general” is a compound noun. More specifically, it’s a compound noun that’s made of up of a noun and an adjective. The word “general” isn’t like the rank in the military, in other words, but an adjective describing the attorney’s duties as “general,” or non-specialized ones. When pluralizing this kind ...

Attorneys Mean More than One

Now we know the plural form of the attorney and the rule behind it. You will have to follow this grammar rule while changing the form of attorneys. You can follow a simple rule and add s to the y to make it plural. It cannot be attornies since there is a vowel before y. You will have to check it since iwriter does not format.

Plural Form of the Attorney General

As stated above, the plural form of attorney is attorneys. Now you should not have any confusion between attornies or attorneys. If you cannot remember the grammar rule, you can simply add s to y. You might be thinking about how to make the plural of the attorney general.

What the Rule Says

When it comes to the US, these two words are separated. They do not connect these words with a hyphen. There will be two separate words, attorney and general. In this condition, you can consider the grammar rule explained above. You can write the plural form as attorneys general.

The Difference between the UK and US English

In US English, there will be two separate words and will be treated as a compound noun. Also, s will be added to the first word to make it plural, and the second word (adjective) will not change the form.

What is an attorney general?

The "Attorney-General" is the person who is in charge of government administration of the whole legal system. As such, you always pluralize the noun, which in this case is not "Attorney-General" but "Attorney".

What does "attornies" mean in law?

Attornies are plural say a defence has many attornies working in his or her case. Attorneys at law also can fit say for a law practise where multiple lawyers are working under one roof they are attorneys of law

What does "bon vivant" mean in French?

Then there is “bon vivant.”. It’s a French term that means someone who enjoys life, especially good food and drink. (The literal translation is “good liver.”)

Is "general" an adjective?

“General” here, though, is an adjective, not a noun ; you can think of them as “general attorneys.”.

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