code: def step_1a(word):
      if word.endswith("sses"):
          return word[:-4] + "ss"
      if word.endswith("ied") or word.endswith("ies"):
          if len(word) > 4:
              return word[:-3] + "i"
          else:
              return word[:-3] + "ie"
      if word.endswith("us") or word.endswith("ss"):
          return word
      if word.endswith("s"):
          preceding = word[:-1]
          if s1a_exp.search(preceding):
              return preceding
          return word
      return word
  
imports: import re
label_desc: Use image node_id 8 for calling a global function with example usage: step_1a(word) and returns: word, unknown, word, word, unknown, unknown, preceding