def step_1a(w):
 if w.endswith('s'):
  if w.endswith('sses'):
   return w[:(-2)]
  if w.endswith('ies'):
   return (((len(w) == 4) and w[:(-1)]) or w[:(-2)])
  if w.endswith(('us', 'ss')):
   return w
  if (find_vowel(w) < (len(w) - 2)):
   return w[:(-1)]
 return w

def step_1a ( w ) : if w . endswith ( 's' ) : if w . endswith ( 'sses' ) : return w [ : ( - 2 ) ] if w . endswith ( 'ies' ) : return ( ( ( len ( w ) == 4 ) and w [ : ( - 1 ) ] ) or w [ : ( - 2 ) ] ) if w . endswith ( ( 'us' , 'ss' ) ) : return w if ( find_vowel ( w ) < ( len ( w ) - 2 ) ) : return w [ : ( - 1 ) ] return w
step 1a handles -s suffixes .