NUMBER:
[Sidenote: Definition.]
35. In nouns, number means the mode of indicating whether we are
speaking of one thing or of more than one.
36. Our language has two numbers,--_singular_ and _plural_. The
singular number denotes that one thing is spoken of; the plural, more
than one.
37. There are three ways of changing the singular form to the
plural:--
(1) By adding _-en_.
(2) By changing the root vowel.
(3) By adding _-s_ (or _-es_).
The first two methods prevailed, together with the third, in Old
English, but in modern English _-s_ or _-es_ has come to be the
"standard" ending; that is, whenever we adopt a new word, we make its
plural by adding _-s_ or _-es._
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