🔹 Number in English Grammar

(English Honours / Competitive Exam Level Explanation)

1️⃣ What is Number?

In English grammar, Number refers to the form of a noun or pronoun that shows whether it denotes:

• One person/thing → Singular

• More than one → Plural

2️⃣ Types of Number

A) Singular Number

Denotes one person, place, thing, or idea.

Examples:

• boy

• book

• city

• idea

• child

B) Plural Number

Denotes more than one.

Examples:

• boys

• books

• cities

• ideas

• children

3️⃣ Formation of Plurals

🔹 1. Regular Plurals (Add –s)

Singular	Plural
book	books
pen	pens
girl	girls

🔹 2. Nouns ending in –s, –sh, –ch, –x, –z → add –es

Singular	Plural
box	boxes
bus	buses
church	churches
wish	wishes

🔹 3. Nouns ending in consonant + y → change y to ies

Singular	Plural
city	cities
baby	babies
lady	ladies

BUT:

Vowel + y → just add s

• boy → boys

• key → keys

🔹 4. Nouns ending in –f / –fe → change to –ves

Singular	Plural
leaf	leaves
wife	wives
knife	knives

Exceptions:

• roof → roofs

• chief → chiefs

🔹 5. Irregular Plurals (No fixed rule)

Singular	Plural
man	men
woman	women
child	children
tooth	teeth
foot	feet
goose	geese
mouse	mice

🔹 6. Same form in Singular & Plural

Singular	Plural
deer	deer
sheep	sheep
aircraft	aircraft
fish	fish (sometimes fishes)

🔹 7. Foreign Plurals (Important for Honours Level)

Singular	Plural
phenomenon	phenomena
criterion	criteria
datum	data
medium	media
syllabus	syllabi
radius	radii
alumnus	alumni
cactus	cacti

4️⃣ Collective Nouns and Number

Words like:

• team

• committee

• jury

• family

• government

They are singular in form but may take plural verb depending on meaning.

✔ The team is winning. (As one unit)
✔ The team are arguing among themselves. (Members individually)

5️⃣ Nouns Always Singular

These do not have plural forms:

• advice

• information

• furniture

• luggage

• news

• knowledge

• equipment

• scenery

❌ Informations
❌ Advices

Correct:
✔ pieces of advice
✔ items of furniture

6️⃣ Nouns Always Plural

These are plural in form and take plural verbs:

• scissors

• trousers

• spectacles

• clothes

• police

• cattle

✔ The police are investigating.
✔ My trousers are new.

To make singular:

• A pair of trousers

• A pair of scissors

7️⃣ Plural Forms with Different Meanings

Singular	Plural	Meaning Difference
custom	customs	tradition / tax office
force	forces	strength / army
good	goods	benefit / merchandise
colour	colours	hue / flag

8️⃣ Number in Pronouns

Singular	Plural
I	We
He/She/It	They
This	These
That	Those
Myself	Ourselves

9️⃣ Number Agreement Rules (Very Important)

✔ Each, Every, Either, Neither → Singular verb
✔ A number of → Plural
✔ The number of → Singular
✔ Many, Several, Few → Plural

Example:

• Each student is ready.

• A number of students are absent.

• The number of students is small.

🔟 Advanced (Honours Level Linguistic Insight)

In modern linguistics:

• English has only two numbers (singular & plural).

• Unlike Sanskrit/Greek, English has no dual number.

• Mass nouns (water, sugar) are grammatically singular but semantically plural.

Example:
Water is essential.
(Not: Water are)

1️⃣1️⃣ Common Errors in Number

❌ One of the boys are present.
✔ One of the boys is present.

❌ The sceneries are beautiful.
✔ The scenery is beautiful.

❌ He gave me many advices.
✔ He gave me much advice.

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🎓 For Competitive Exams (WBCS / SLST / NET)

Focus on:

• Irregular plurals

• Foreign plurals

• Collective noun agreement

• Uncountable nouns

• Subject-verb agreement