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Question

Un cuento ________.A fairy tale.(HINT: hadas = fairies)I did not know what "cuento" means    and the dictionary has cuento de hadas as an entry.... Now wondering about the "plurals"   Seems hadas is plural  so should it be cuentos?So suggestion is have meaning for cuento given..     My guess is cuento de hadas is phrase and does not follow rules.  Dictionary says it a phrase.    So maybe this question is not a good one because it does not follow the plural rules.

Answer

Hey Goo, you asked two questions.1.  What is the rule for plurals in expressions like thisThese expressions follow the form I mentioned in my other answer:       NOUN DE NOUN(S)The usual rule for plurals in this form is to make the first noun plural.   La camisa de algodón (the cotton shirt)   Las camisas de algodón (the cotton shirts)2.  What is going on with the test questionIn the test question question the format is different.  This is because in Spanish we don't say "a fairy tale".  Instead we say "a tale of fairies".  So we write:  un cuento de hadas (a tale of fairies)Here "cuento" (tale) is singular.