Redirected from Numerus
In English the following are examples:
The (regular) English noun plural marker, -s, has three variants:
In Slovene more complicated:
In Hebrew, one can similarly say:
In terms of pronunciation, however, the majority of nouns (and adjectives) in French are not actually declined for number. The -s suffix is not actually pronounced unless the next word starts with a vowel (this is called liaison[?]) and thus does not really show anything; the plural article or other word is the real indicator of plurality. However, plurals still exist in French because irregular nouns, such as those that end in -l such as cheval, horse, form plurals in a different way. Cheval is pronounced [S@val], cheveau is pronounced [S@vo], and this is a real showing of number differences. The same is true for adjectives.
Not only nouns can be declined by number. In many languages, adjectives are declined according to the number of the noun they modify. For example, in French, one may say une arbre verte (a green tree), and des arbres vertes ([some] green trees). The word verte (green), in the singular, becomes vertes for the plural (unlike English green, which remains green).
In many languages, verbs are conjugated by number as well. Using French as an example again, one says je vois (I see), but nous voyons (we see). The verb voir (to see) in the first person changes from vois in singular, to voyons in plural. In English this occurs in the third person[?] (she runs, they run) but not first or second.
Normally verbs agree with their subject noun in number. But in Ancient Greek and Sanskrit neuter plurals took a singular verb. In English nouns collectively referring to people may take singular verbs, as the committee are meeting; use of this varies by dialect and level of formality.
Other qualifiers may also agree in number. The English article the does not, the demonstratives this, that do, becoming these, those, and the article a, an is omitted or changed to some in the plural. In French and German the definite articles[?] have gender distinctions in the singular but not the plural. In Portuguese the indefinite article[?] um, uma has plural forms uns, umas.
See grammar, mass noun, collective noun.
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