How is it spelled correctly: key chains or key fobs?.

A key chainis an adornment in the form of a small pendant that is used as a decorative addition to bracelets, pocket watches, keys, handbags and purses. There may be several such decorations. In the plural nounkeychainhas the formkeyrings. This should be remembered, since this form is not typical for the formation of the plural of most masculine nouns. In nouns with a base on –ok, the plural is formed with the loss of the vowel ––:

teremok - teremki; sock - socks; sand - sands; sprout - sprouts; petal - petals.

Noun spellingkey fobsplural is an exception to this rule. The use of the formkeyfobinstead ofkeyfobis considered a speech error. When declining a nounkey ringsvowel -о- is also preserved in indirect cases:

I. - key rings

R. - key fobs

D. - key fobs

V. - key fobs

T. - with key fobs

P. - (about) key fobs

Correct Wrong
Goldcharms glittered on the chain.

She had a passion for bright little things: rings, pendants,key rings.

The selectionof key ringsmust match the style of the jewelry.

He, grinning, fingeredkeychains.

The entire chest is hung with chains with cheapkey chains.

The investigator recognized the bunch of keys fromkey chains.

In colloquial speech, there is a truncated formkey chains, but it does not correspond to the literary norms of word use existing in the Russian language. It is necessary to speak and write:small trinkets; key rings with amber inlay; hang charms from the watch chain; donate key rings.

TheDifference.ru gives the following recommendations on the use of plural keychain in speech and spelling of the plural:

  1. Plural nounkey fobis used in the formkey fobs.
  2. This form must be followed in writing and speaking.
  3. The misuse of the formkey fobsinstead ofkey fobsis a violation of literary norms.
  4. The colloquial formof the keychainis permissible only in a stylistically reduced speech situation.
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