plurals
Words for many
Plurals are words that indicate more than one of something—the opposite of singulars.
In English, most plurals form by adding -s or -es: cats, boxes, churches.
Irregular plurals follow older patterns: children, mice, geese.
Some words have identical singular and plural forms: sheep, deer, fish.
Learning the plurals is part of learning the language.
One in number
- nounWord naming something
- inflectionWord form alteration
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
- declensionNoun form variation
agreement · number · suffix · irregular · regular · countable · uncountable · nominative
Very large number
- abundanceAmple supply, overflowing
- scoresAchieves points; many
- hundredsGroups of one hundred
- thousandsMultiple units of 1,000
millions · billions · numerous · multiple · many · several · countless · myriad
Constructing from components
- congregationAssembled group of worshippers
- gatheringCollection of people meeting
- clusterGathered group nearby
- ensembleUnified group or outfit
aggregate · group · collection · compilation · federation · coalition · alliance · union
Siblings born simultaneously
- tripletsThree born together
- quadrupletsFour simultaneous births
- quintupletsFive offspring, one birth
- sextupletsSix offspring born together
septuplets · octuplets · multiples · identical · fraternal · monozygotic · dizygotic · siblings
State of varied elements
- assortmentMixed collection of things
- multiplicityState of being many
- heterogeneityState of being dissimilar
- rangeExtent of variation
spectrum · medley · mosaic · patchwork · array · selection · mix · miscellany
singular
One in number
- nounWord naming something
- inflectionWord form alteration
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
declension · agreement · number · suffix · irregular · regular · countable · uncountable · nominative · genitive
multitude
Very large number
thousands · millions · billions · numerous · multiple · many · several · countless · myriad · innumerable
assembly
Constructing from components
- congregationAssembled group of worshippers
- gatheringCollection of people meeting
- clusterGathered group nearby
ensemble · aggregate · group · collection · compilation · federation · coalition · alliance · union · consortium
twins
Siblings born simultaneously
- tripletsThree born together
- quadrupletsFour simultaneous births
- quintupletsFive offspring, one birth
sextuplets · septuplets · octuplets · multiples · identical · fraternal · monozygotic · dizygotic · siblings · offspring
diversity
State of varied elements
- assortmentMixed collection of things
- multiplicityState of being many
- heterogeneityState of being dissimilar
range · spectrum · medley · mosaic · patchwork · array · selection · mix · miscellany · potpourri
- Hungariangoulash, paprika, Budapest, Magyar, puszta
- Gaelic grammarmutations, case, cases, conjugation, verb conjugation
- morphologymorphemes, morpheme, affixes, affix, suffixes
- noun inflectiondeclension, inflection, nominative, accusative, genitive
- English grammarnouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns
- other languages Q&Atranslation, vocabulary, grammar, phrases, pronunciation
pluralssingulars
Forms denoting one
singular forms · singular nouns · singular · dual · uncountables
- irregular pluralsNouns breaking standard rules
- plural nounWords denoting multiplicity
- plural marriageUnion with multiple partners
- plural formGrammatical multiple indicator
- plural wifeOne spouse among many
- plural wivesMultiple female spouses
plural, plurality, pluralism, pluralist, pluralistic, pluralized, pluralization, pluralize, pluralizing