Here is a useful code snippet to convert the tense of a word from single to plural and vise versa. The code uses a series of regular expression to examine the word and convert it using the correct grammar.
public string MakePlural(string name)
{
Regex plural1 = new Regex("(?<keep>[^aeiou])y$");
Regex plural2 = new Regex("(?<keep>[aeiou]y)$");
Regex plural3 = new Regex("(?<keep>[sxzh])$");
Regex plural4 = new Regex("(?<keep>[^sxzhy])$");
if(plural1.IsMatch(name))
return plural1.Replace(name, "${keep}ies");
else if(plural2.IsMatch(name))
return plural2.Replace(name, "${keep}s");
else if(plural3.IsMatch(name))
return plural3.Replace(name, "${keep}es");
else if(plural4.IsMatch(name))
return plural4.Replace(name, "${keep}s");
return name;
}
public string MakeSingle(string name)
{
Regex single1 = new Regex("(?<keep>[^aeiou])ies$");
Regex single2 = new Regex("(?<keep>[aeiou]y)s$");
Regex single3 = new Regex("(?<keep>[sxzh])es$");
Regex single4 = new Regex("(?<keep>[^sxzhy])s$");
if(single1.IsMatch(name))
return single1.Replace(name, "${keep}y");
else if(single2.IsMatch(name))
return single2.Replace(name, "${keep}");
else if(single3.IsMatch(name))
return single3.Replace(name, "${keep}");
else if(single4.IsMatch(name))
return single4.Replace(name, "${keep}");
return name;
}
~ Paul