1. Number Kuiper and Allan Chapter 2.1.2
Inflection of nouns
Number
Kuiper and Allan Chapter 2.1.2

2. Regular plural inflection
singular (one) plural (more than one)
snapper snappers
bee bees
rosella rosellas
box boxes

3. Irregular plural inflection
Some nouns mark their plural in other ways.
foot feet
mouse mice
louse lice
child children
ox oxen

4. Covert marking Other nouns never mark their plurals overtly.
sheep sheep
deer deer

5. Obligatory plurals
Still other nouns never occur without the plural inflection, e.g. scissors and trousers.

6. Exercise
Divide the nouns below into the following groups: nouns that can take a(n), nouns that can take the, nouns that have a plural form, and nouns that refer to things that can be counted.
alligator, wombat, Pittsburg, video, lawnmower, butter, Fred.

7. Your answer should look like this:
a(n) the plural count
alligator √ √ √ √
wombat √ √ √ √
Pittsburg x x x x
video √ √ √ √
lawnmower √ √ √ √
butter x √ x x
Fred x x x x

8. Number as a test for nouns
The exercise showed that three different kinds of nouns exist
Common nouns like shoe inflect for number, i.e. they can be either singular or plural.
Mass nouns like butter and sand do not take plurals because they are not countable.
Proper nouns (those written with a capital letter at the beginning and which are the real naming words) usually do not inflect for number.
So number is a positive test for nouns. If a word can take a plural it is a noun but not all nouns inflect for number.

9. Exercise Find the nouns in the following poem
The sick rose
Oh rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm,
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy,
And his dark, secret love
Does thy life destroy.
William Blake