NOUN - NUMBER
Number means in Telugu “vachanam”.
There are two types of numbers.
1. Singular No. [ it is one item ]
2. Plural No. [ it is many items ]
There are many ways in English to change a singular number into plural number. Why should we learn this topic? It is because the verb of English literature runs as per the number of the subject. In all the Indian languages of India the verb runs as per the gender of the subject.
1. By adding “s”
Eg. Apple – apples,
similarly book, desk, chair, mat, pet, jar, cow, page, house, room, dog, god,
2. By adding “-es” [ if the word ends with –s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x ]
Eg. Bus – buses
Similarly gas,
class, goddess, kiss, lass,
ash, bush, dish, fish, batch, bench, beach, bunch, branch, inch, lunch, match,
tax, wax,
3. By adding “-ves” [if the word ends with -f, -lf, -fe]
Eg. Loaf – loves
Similarly leaf, thief, calf, half, shelf, wolf, knife, life, wife, housewife,
4. By adding “-ies” after removing “-y”
Eg/ army – armies
Similarly baby, body, booty, city, cry, country, daddy, duty, fly, history, lady, lorry, sky,
5. By adding “-en”
Eg. Ox – oxen
Similarly child, man, woman, fox,
6. By removing “-oo-“ and placing “-ee-“
Eg. Foot – feet
Similarly goose, tooth,
7. By removing “-ouse” and placing “-ice”
Eg. Louse – lice
Similarly mouse,
8. Always Singular
Physics, news, innings, tidings, mathematics,
9. Always plural
Scissors, spectacles, tongs, trousers, drawers, measles, billiards, nuptials, annals, sale preoccedings, thanks, alms, poultry, cattle, gentry, people, vermin,
10. Singular & Plural same
Sheep, deer, swine, cod, trout, salmon, pair, dozen, score, fish
11. Plurals of Compound words - I
Eg., if the main word is in the beginning, it should be made plural
Coat-of-mail - coats-of-mail
Similarly son-inlaw, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, passer-by, looker-on, man-of-war
12. Plurals of Compound words - II
Eg., if the main word is at the end, it should be made plural.
Step-son – step-sons
Step-daughter, step-father, step-mother, maid-servant, man-servant
13. Pronouns
I – we, you – you, he-they, she – they, it – they, those, these, this – these, that – those,
himself-themselves, herself – themselves,
14. Foreign words
Axis - axes, radius – radii formula – formulae, erratum – errata memorandum – memoranda
Index – indices analysis – analyses syllabus – syllabi basis – bases crisis – crises
Hypothesis – hypotheses parenthesis – parentheses criterion - criteria
15. Some nouns have two plural forms
Brother brothers brotheren cloth cloths clothes
Die dies dice fish fish fishes
Genius geniuses genii index indexes indices
Penny pennies pence Staff staves staffs
16. Some nouns have one meaning in singular form and another meaning in plural forms
Eg., custom customs = habits customs = import duties
Similarly Colour - colours effect, letter, moral, pain, quarter, spirit, ground, manners, number, part, spectacle
17. Some words have many meanings in singular form and one in plural form
Eg., Light = 1] light 2] not heavy 3] easy lights = which gives light
People, power, practice, wood,
