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Home > Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing > 'Y' plurals. Bill Labov's linguistic legacy. Choo-choo
Podcast: Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
Episode:

'Y' plurals. Bill Labov's linguistic legacy. Choo-choo

Category: Education
Duration: 00:14:53
Publish Date: 2025-07-22 09:00:00
Description:

1101. Do you know when to change a "y" to an "ies" for a plural, and when to just add an "s"? Today, we look at the rules. Then, we look at linguist Bill Labov's famous department store study, which shows how social class relates to speech patterns. 

The 'y' segment was written by Samantha Enslen, who runs Dragonfly Editorial. You can find her at dragonflyeditorial.com.

The segment about Bill Labov was written by Valerie Friedland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and the author of "Like Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English." You can find her at valeriefridland.com.

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