An unusual question, I shall update my homepage of hippeastrum. My grammar is not so good.
I have problem with plural, name and spell.
When I write "one amaryllis" ( on lily)
how do I spell two or more ?
(Is it lillies??? ) grateful for help thanks
Sylvia
http://www.waysidegardensvoices.com/2008/02/the-amaryllis-q.html
This may help....lol I think that is a very a good question, by the way. I never know exactly how to pluralize this word either....sometimes I simply say my AMies...lol
I call mine Hippies..
Thanks, I think I have explain me wrong how I meant.
I have a button on my homepage, called earlier for Liljor - (Lillies?????)
Now I have split it up. One button for Hippeastrum/Amaryllis (we called them most for amaryllis in Sweden, seldom Hippeastrum in everyday speech.
And this button I have no problem with.
But the other one, I had Swedish for Lily on this button.
Now I have change it to Liljor=Swedish for Lillies (AND NOW I WONDER about the gramma if I shall write Lillies for plural or am I wrong???
Otherwise for single is "Lilja-Lily".
Here is the button
http://www.hobbyodlaren.com/index3.html
Well, i'm not sure if I can clear things up for you, but I'll try.
this is the generally accepted and most used spelling:
The singular form of it is = Lily
the plural form of Lily is = Lilies
.....However given the sometimes strange and mixed up rules of English, if you were to spell it 'lillies', that would still be ok according to most of the English rules.
I think that you already have the others but just in case, here they are. These are actually a little easier because there's not any giving in the rules.
amaryllis = 1
Amarylli = 2 or more
however, many do say amaryllis is the plural and singular because that follows the botanical rules combining english and botanical terms. JanetS posted a link explaining that strange thing.
Anyhow, it's not that your grammar is bad, you have stumbled upon two words that even people who speak the most proper English get mixed up on because the rules are a little mixed up on those. Good luck.
This message was edited Dec 2, 2008 12:28 PM
I have been told that in the 'botanical' sense any plant name that ends in an 's' is both singular and plural. Coleus, Rubus, Lupinus, Gladiolus, Citrus are just a few examples of plant names that most people use as singular & plural.
If you are a botanist with a degree than you will probably disagree, but, nobody cares.
Beautiful picture Dale!!!
