Inflected Forms
The plurals of nouns are shown in this dictionary when they are irregular, when plural suffixation brings about a change in accentuation or in the spelling of the root word, when an English noun ends in a consonant plus -o or in -ey, when an English noun ends in -oo, when an English noun is a compound that pluralizes any element but the last, when a noun has variant plurals, or whenever the dictionary user might have reasonable doubts regarding the spelling of a plural:
tooth ... noun, plural teeth ...
garrafón masculine noun, plural -fones ...
potato ... noun, plural -toes ...
abbey ... noun, plural -beys ...
cuckoo2 noun, plural -oos ...
brother-in-law ... noun, plural brothers-inlaw ...
quail2 noun, plural quail or quails ...;
hábitat masculine noun, plural -tats ...
tahúr masculine noun, plural tahúres ...
Cutback inflected forms are used for most nouns on the English-to-Spanish side, regardless of the number of syllables. On the Spanish-to-English side, cutback inflections are given for nouns that have three or more syllables; plurals for shorter words are written out in full:
shampoo2 noun, plural -poos ...
calamity ... noun, plural -ties ...
mouse ... noun, plural mice ...
sartén masculine or feminine noun, plural sartenes ...
hámster masculine noun, plural hámsters ...
federación feminine noun, plural -ciones ...
If only one gender form has a plural which is irregular, that plural form will be given with the appropriate label:
campeón, -ona noun, masculine plural -ones : champion
The plurals of nouns are usually not shown when the base word is unchanged by the addition of the regular plural suffix or when the noun is unlikely to occur in the plural:
apple ... noun : manzana f
inglés3 masculine noun : English (language)
Nouns that are plural in form and that regularly occur in plural constructions are labeled as noun plural (for English nouns), masculine noun plural (for Spanish masculine nouns), or feminine noun plural (for Spanish feminine nouns):
knickers ... noun plural ...
enseres masculine noun plural ...
mancuernas feminine noun plural ...
Entry words that are unchanged in the plural are labeled noun singular & plural (for English nouns), masculine noun singular & plural (for Spanish masculine nouns), feminine noun singular & plural (for Spanish feminine nouns), and noun invariable for both gender and number (for Spanish gender variable nouns):
deer ... noun singular & plural ...
lavaplatos masculine noun singular & plural ...
tesis feminine noun singular & plural ...
rompehuelgas noun invariable for both gender and number ...
The principal parts of verbs are shown in English-to-Spanish entries when they are irregular, when suffixation brings about a change in spelling of the root word, when the verb ends in -ey, when there are variant inflected forms, or whenever it is believed that the dictionary user might have reasonable doubts about the spelling of an inflected form:
break1 ... verb broke ... broken ... ; breaking ...
drag1 ... verb dragged; dragging ...
monkey1 ... instransitive verb -keyed; -keying ...
label1 ... transitive verb -beled or -belled; -beling or -belling ...
imagine ... transitive verb -ined; -ining ...
Cutback inflected forms are usually used when the verb has two or more syllables:
multiply ... verb -plied; -plying ...
bevel1 ... verb -eled or -elled; -eling or -elling ...
forgo or forego ... transitive verb -went; -gone; -going ...
commit ... transitive verb -mitted; -mitting ...
The principal parts of an English verb are not shown when the base word is unchanged by suffixation:
delay1 ... transitive verb
pitch1 ... transitive verb
Entries for irregular Spanish verbs are cross-referenced by number to the model conjugations appearing in the Conjugation of Spanish Verbs section:
abnegarse {49} reflexive verb ...
volver {89} intransitive verb ...
Entries for Spanish verbs with regular conjugations are not cross-referenced; however, model conjugations for regular Spanish verbs are included in the Conjugation of Spanish Verbs section.
