Plain English. Marian Wharton
all these nouns always use the form of the verb which is used with the plural subject. Thus:
Alms are given.
Riches are easily lost.
83. The following nouns have the same form for both plural and singular, corps, cannon, deer, grouse, heathen, hose, means, odds, series, sheep, species, swine, vermin, wages. You can tell whether the singular or plural is meant by the meaning of the sentence. For example:
The cannon is loaded. Here we are speaking of one cannon.
The cannon used in the war are of tremendous size. Here we know are meant all the big guns used in the war.
When you say, The sheep is lost, we know you mean one sheep, but when you say, The sheep are in the pasture, we know you mean the entire drove.
84. When preceded by a numeral, the following nouns have the same form for both singular and plural. Without the numerals, the plural is formed by the adding of s; brace, couple, dozen, hundred, pair, score, thousand, yoke. For example:
Thousands enlisted.
Three thousand enlisted.
Dozens came at my call.
Two dozen came when I called.
GENDER
85. All of the changes we have studied so far have been for the purpose of indicating number; but among the nouns that name living beings, many change to show to which sex the object named belongs. These nouns change in form to distinguish between the masculine and the feminine. This is called gender.
Gender is the distinction in words that denotes sex.
The nouns that denote females are called feminine nouns.
The nouns that denote males are called masculine nouns.
86. The feminine form is generally made by the addition of ess to the masculine form. Thus:
87. Names of things without sex are, of course, of neither gender, and are called neuter nouns. Neuter means literally neither. Such nouns as mountain, iron, river, chair, are neuter.
Sometimes the feminine is an entirely different word from the masculine. Thus:
88. Many nouns that denote living beings apply alike to male and female, and are said to be of common gender. As woman enters more and more into the business world and pursues the same occupations as man, the change in form to denote the feminine is used less frequently, and what we have called the masculine form is used for both sexes, thus:
Poet, waiter, doctor, editor—these nouns are used for both men and women.
POSSESSIVE FORM
89. There is just one more change made in the form of a noun, and that is when we wish to show who or what owns or possesses a thing. Thus we write:
John's book.
The boy's hat.
And since this form of the noun denotes possession, it is called the possessive form. Some grammarians call this the possessive case.
The possessive form of nouns is made by adding an apostrophe and s, ('s); thus, day's, lady's, girl's, clerk's.
To plural nouns ending in s add only an apostrophe; thus, days', ladies', girls', clerks'.
When plural nouns do not end in s, their possessive forms are made by adding the apostrophe and s, the same as singular nouns, thus:
They make men's and women's shoes.
90. In words which end with a sound that resembles that of s, the apostrophe with s forms an additional syllable. Thus:
James's (pronounced James-ez.)
Mr. Lynch's (pronounced Lynch-ez.)
The only exception to the rule occurs when the addition of another s would make too many hissing sounds, then we add the apostrophe alone. Thus:
For goodness' sake.
In Jesus' name.
91. In forming the possessive of compound nouns, the possessive sign is always placed at the end, thus:
My son-in-law's sister.
The man-of-war's cannon.
92. When we wish to show that a thing belongs to two or more persons who are joint owners of it, we add the possessive sign to the last word only, thus:
Carson, Price and Scott's store.
Mason and Hamlin's pianos.
If it is a separate ownership that we wish to denote, we place the possessive sign after each name, thus:
Bring me John's and Mary's books.
Lee's and Grant's armies met in battle.
Remember that the noun has just three changes in form, one for the plural number, one to denote gender and one for the possessive form. Watch carefully your own language and that of your friends and note if these changes are correctly made.
Exercise 3
Write the plural form of each of the following:
ax
beef
chief
hero
knife
T
hoof
man-of-war
axis
basis
cherry
leaf
son-in-law
Mr. Smith
thief
Doctor Wood
alley
buffalo
chimney
staff
Frenchman
Miss Brown
ox
spoonful
alto
calf
cargo
two
3
tooth
foot
turkey