THE ENGLISH NOUN

THE GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF NUMBER

The grammatical category of number is presented by two members: singular and
plural. Singular denotes oneness whereas plural denotes more than one. Plural
is the marked member of the opposition. English distinguishes two major classes
of nouns: variables and invariables. Variables have both singular and plural forms
and following the basic rules of pluralisation they fall into two paradigms:native
paradigm which comprises words of Anglo-Saxon origin and foreign paradigm
which comprises words of foreign origin.
A) Native Paradigm:
The suffix /- s/ is considered to be the only regular marker for plurality
Client-clients; computer-computers; teacher-teachers;
However nouns that end in
s; -sh; -ch; -x; and z form their plural by adding
es to the singular form.
Class-classes; dash-dashes; wrench-wrenches; tax-taxes; buzz-buzzes
Besides to common nouns the rule is applicable to proper nouns as well:
Keenan- the Keenans; Bromberg- the Brombergs; Ross-the Rosses; Walsh-the
Walshes; Fitch-the Fitches; Dix-the Dixes; Hertz-the Hertzes.
The suffix / -en/
Ox-oxen; child-children; brother-brethren
Mutation of the root vowel
Goose-geese; tooth-teeth; woman-women;
Voicing and -es plural
Shelf-shelves; half-halves; leaf-leaves
The rule is applicable nouns that end in f or fe, but there is a deviation from the
rule. Some nouns can form their plural only following this pattern, others can form
their plural eitherb by adding the regular marker-s or by voicing and es plural:
Scarf-scarfs or scarves; dwarf-dwarfs or dwarves; hoof-hoofs or hooves;
The third group of nouns form their plural by simply adding only the regular
markers s.
Roof-roofs; chief-chiefs; safe-safes; plaitiff-plaintiffs;
Zero plural
Sheep-sheep; fruit-fruit; fish-fish
A special attention should be given to nouns that end in o. Mind that some of
the nouns come from native origin, others from foreign origin. These nouns fall
into the following groups:
Final o preceded by a vowel, adding s for the plural
Studio-studios; folio-folios; ratio-ratios
Final o preceded by a consonant, adding s for the plural
Photo-photos; memento-mementos, zero-zeros

 Final o preceded by a consonant adding es for plural

Hero-heroes; potato-potatoes; motto-mottoes
Nouns that form their plural either by adding s or es
Volcano-volcanos, volcanoes; buffalo-buffalos, buffaloes;
B) Foreign paradigm:
The Plural of foreign words is a dictionary must. They fall into three groups.
Nouns taking only foreign plurals
Crisis-crises; bacterium-bacteria; alumnus-alumnae; criterion-criteria;genusgenera; tableau-tableaux, /for further specification see Quirk/
Nouns taking the regular marker s or the foreign plural
Appendix-appendixes, appendices; formula-formulae, formulas, stadiumstadiums, stadia
Nouns taking only the regular marker
Museum-museums; economium-economiums; impetus-impetuses
C) Compound nouns
Compound nouns can be written with a hyphen, with a space between the words
or as solid words.
Nouns taking plural in their first element
Editor-in-chief:editor-in-chiefs; chief-of-staff: chief-of- staffs
Nouns taking plural in their second element
General-manager: general-managers; timetable-timetables
Nouns taking plural in both elements
Woman engineer: women engineers; man hunter: men hunters
INVARIABLE NOUNS
Invariables fall into two major classes: singular invariables, which occur only in
singular and agree with a singular verb and plural invariables, which occur only
in plural and agree with a plural verb.
Singular Invariables:
Nouns ending in-s: aerobics, news, linguistics
Proper names: Louie, Mark, Jennifer
Concrete uncountables: wood, brass,
Abstract uncountables: friendship, hohour
Abstract substantivised adjectives: the beautiful, the evil
Plural Invariables:
Proper names: the Alps; the Highlands
Summation plurals: slacks, tongs
Nouns in s: statistics /facts/; auspices

Personal substantivised adjectives: the wounded, the rich , the poor

NUMBER CLASSIFICATION.

A / sheep: variable, irregular plural; O morpheme as a grammatical marker

B/ ox: variable, irregular plural, en plural
C/ foot: variable, irregular plural, mutation of the root vowel
D/ wife: variable, irregular plural, voicing and es plural
E/ chair; variable, regular, -s plural
F/ datum: variable, foreign plural, -a plural
G/ criterion: variable, foreign plural, -a plural
H/ cactus: variable, foreign plural, -I plural
I / radius; variable, foreign plural, -I plural
J / thesis: variable, foreign plural, -es plural
K / apex: variable, foreign plural, -ces plural
L/ tableau: variable, foreign plural, -x plural
M/ tempo: variable, foreign plural,- I plural
N/ silver: invariable, singular invariable; concrete uncountable
O/ love: invariable, singular invariable; abstract uncountable
P/ James: invariable; singular invariable; proper name
Q/ linguistics: invariable; singular invariable; ending in s
R/ the evil: invariable; singular invariable; abstract substantivised adjectives
S/ pajamas: invariable, plural invariable, summation plural
T/ statistics: invariable, plural invariable; ending in s
U/ the Alps: invariable; plural invariable; proper names
V/ the poor: invariable; plural invariable; personal substantivised adjectives