As you know, in English you generally make a word pluralby 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複數，只要在這個詞的後面加上「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複數形式，你是用「bicycles shop」還是「bicycle shops」？在表示授權書的複數時，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.
名詞詞組複數變化的規則就是：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，重點詞是最後一個詞，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，最後一個詞變成了複數形式。更多類似的例子：
Bank account => Bank accounts
銀行帳戶
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 optionscheme => Employee share option schemes
僱員股份認購權計劃
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 => Articlesof association
公司章程
Code of conduct => Codesof conduct
行為守則
Conflict of interest => Conflictsof interest
利益衝突
Course of action => Coursesof action
行動步驟
Notary public => Notariespublic
公證人
Statement of claim => Statementsof claim
起訴書
編輯推薦
>>100條你一定會用到的英語寫作高頻短語
>>盤點雅思寫作十大「見官死」失敗開頭
>>十大託福寫作高分句型例析
>>更多寫作請關注新東方網寫作頻道
（編輯：何瑩瑩）