The parts of speech which are capable of undergoing inflection are nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs.

Nouns are inflected to show gender, number, and case. The inflection of a noun is called its Declension.

Pronouns are inflected to show gender, number, case, and person. The inflection of the pronoun is called its Declension.

Adjectives and adverbs are inflected to show differences in degree. This inflection is called Comparison.

Verbs are inflected to show person, number, tense, voice, and mood. The inflection of the verb is called its Conjugation.

The further discussion of the inflections of these various parts of speech will be taken up each in its proper place.

34. The Inflections of the Noun.-Inflection for gender in the noun has already been sufficiently discussed (see 30, 31,), but it is necessary to say something further about Number and Case.

Number is the distinction in the use of words whereby they are made to name one person or thing or more than one person or thing.

A word which names a single person or thing is in the Singular Number, as house, stone, tree, shoe, man.

A word which names two or more persons or things is in the Plural Number, as houses, stones, trees, shoes, men.

35. Plurals in -s.-Most nouns form their plurals by adding the letter -s to the singular.

EXAMPLES: book, books; brick, bricks; hat, hats; elevator, elevators; color, colors; president, presidents.

36. Plurals in -es.-But nouns which already end in -s, or in a sound that does not readily combine with the sound of -s, form their plurals by adding -es.

EXAMPLES: class, classes; lash, lashes; tax, taxes; finch, finches; church, churches: perch, perches.

37. Nouns in -0.-Nouns ending in -o in the singular form their plurals by adding -s, as regularly, when the final -o is preceded by another vowel.

EXAMPLES: cameo, cameos; curio, curios; portfolio, portfolios; Hindoo, Hindoos; bamboo, bamboos.

But when final -o is preceded by a consonant, the plural is usually formed by adding -es.

EXAMPLES: buffalo, buffaloes; echo, echoes; hero, heroes; motto, mottoes; negro, negroes; potato, potatoes; tomato, tomatoes; volcano, volcanoes.

There are, however, a few exceptions to this rule, e. g., banjo, banjos; piano, pianos; solo, solos; octavo, octavos.

38. Nouns in -y.-Nouns ending in -y preceded by a consonant change this y- to -i and add -es to form their plurals. Nouns ending in -y preceded by a vowel form their plurals regularly by adding -s.

EXAMPLES: city, cities; remedy, remedies; fly, flies; duty, duties; ferry, ferries; army, armies; mercy, mercies. Valley, valleys; convoy, convoys; alley, alleys; alloy, alloys.

Nouns ending in-quy form their plurals in the same way as nouns ending in -y preceded by a consonant. EXAMPLES: obloquy, obloquies; soliloquy, soliloquies; colloquy, colloquies.

39. Nouns in -f, -fe.-Many nouns ending in -f or -fe change f to v before adding the endings -es, or -s, respectively, to form their plurals.

EXAMPLES: calf, calves; loaf, loaves; leaf, leaves; wolf, wolves; thief, thieves; half, halves; knife, knives; wife, wives; life, lives.

But words which end with the sound -f written -ff or -gh do not make any change before adding the plural ending. EXAMPLES: cliff, cliffs; skiff, skiffs; stuff, stuffs; cough, coughs; laugh, laughs; rough, roughs.

The word staff has an older plural, staves, but the usual form now is staffs.

40. Plurals in -n.-There are four nouns in English which make use of the inflectional element -n (-en, -ren) in forming their plurals. They are ox, oxen; brother, brethren (besides brothers); child, children; cow, kine (besides cows).

41. Mutation Plurals.-A few nouns form their plurals by changing the radical vowel of the word without the addition of an inflectional element. These are man, men; woman, women; foot, feet; tooth, teeth; goose, geese; louse, lice; mouse, mice.

The two words brother, brethren; and cow, kine; belong both to this class and the preceding, since they not only mutate the vowel of the word but also add the inflectional element -n.

42. Uninflected Plurals.-Another small group of nouns has the same form in both singular and plural. These are deer, sheep, swine, neat (meaning cattle), fish, salmon, perch, shad, pike (meaning the fish of that name), trout, hundredweight, yoke (of oxen), head (of cattle). In popular speech this use is frequently extended to words of weight and measure, as foot, pound, gallon, etc., used with plural numerals preceding. The feeling in all such cases

is apparently for the quantity as a whole, rather than for the individual units of weight or measure of which it is composed. It is better usage, however, to use the plural form of the noun.

43. Double Plurals.—Some nouns have two forms for the plural. The two plurals in all such instances have separate meanings.

Singular.

brother

penny

cloth

die

fish

EXAMPLES:

Plurals.

brothers (of the same family).
brethren (of the same society or
organization).

pennies (single coins).

pence (in the names of English
coins of the value of two or more
pennies, e. g., threepence, six-
pence, etc.).}

cloths (pieces of cloth).
clothes (garments).

S dies (used in stamping).

dice (for gaming).

fishes (kinds of fish).

fish (thought of collectively).

44. Nouns without Plurals.-Many nouns are used only in the singular number. These are chiefly words which by the nature of their meaning do not permit the plural idea, like names of abstract ideas or qualities, indifference, anger, wisdom, perseverance, etc.; of sciences or arts, like history, music, painting, sculpture, biology, botany, etc.; of materials, like gold, silver, iron, wheat, corn, rye, etc.

When names of materials like iron, glass,

etc., are used in the plural, they either mean different kinds of the material named, or else have special significations, e.g., irons=fetters, or smoothing irons; glasses= glasses for drinking, eye-glasses, telescopes, etc.; nickels= five-cent pieces.

45. Nouns without Singulars. On the other hand, some nouns are used only in the plural.

EXAMPLES: Scissors, tongs, pincers, trousers, suspenders, lees, dregs, billiards, annals, proceeds, wages, oats, eaves.

46. Nouns Plural in Form.-Some nouns are plural in form, but are singular in use and meaning.

EXAMPLES: news, gallows, measles, summons, mathematics, physics, ethics, phonetics. A few nouns of plural form are used either as singular or as plural, e. g., athletics, politics, acoustics, statistics, calisthenics, riches.

47. Collective Nouns.-Nouns which name objects that are made up of a number of individual elements, as, for example, the noun army, are called Collective Nouns. They may be regarded as singular or plural, according as one thinks of the collection of objects as a whole, or of the individual members which constitute the whole.

EXAMPLES: herd, troop, band, company, family, flock, covey, brood, pack, etc.

48. Plurals of Compound Nouns.-Compound nouns which are made up of a noun plus a suffix, as handful, spoonful, etc., add -s to the last syllable, e. g., handfuls, spoonfuls, to form the plural.

Most other compound nouns, made up of two separate words, also add -s to the final syllable.