Question

Select the plural of the foreign word given below:
Cactus
a. Cactuses
b. Cactica
c. Cactus’s
d. Cacti

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 step-by-step 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 add 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 ‘us’. Such words can be made plural by removing the ending of us and replacing it with ii. For e.g. the plural form of the word focus is foci.
The question given above also follows a similar rule. The plural form of cactus is known as cacti. Therefore, option ‘d’ is the correct answer.

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