Number

Number

Countable nouns in English have two numbers — the singular and the plural which can be expressed in English by:

1. adding -s or -es to the singular form of a noun: wish-wishes, day-days

2. the change of the root vowel: a man — men, a goose — geese , a louse — lice

3. identical forms for the singular and for the plural:

1) a deer — two deer , a sheep — ten sheep , a swine — a lot of swine

2) a fish — (many) fish (also with some kinds of fish: a carp, a pike, a salmon, a trout, etc.)

3) a bison- bison(s)

4) a species- three species

5) a lazy-bones – lazy-bones (лентяи)

Names of nationalities ending in -ese, -ss also have identical forms for the singular and for the plural: a Portuguese — ten Portuguese, a Burmese — the Burmese

4. foreign plurals:

Singular ending: us, a, um ex, ix, is, on

Regular plural: uses, as, ums, exes, ixes, ons

Latin ( Greek) plural: I, ae, a, ices, ices, es, a

5. The plural of compound nouns.

1) Generally compounds form the plural by adding -(e)s to the second element. : a grown-up — grown-ups

2) Nouns ending in -in-law add the plural -s to the noun: a father-in-law — fathers-in-law,

3) If the first element is man or woman, both elements are made plural: a woman-driver — women-drivers

6. As for uncountable nouns some of them are always singular and some are plural.

7. The Emphatic Plural. Some uncountable nouns may be used in the emphatic plural for the sake of emphasis, mostly in literary style.