Editing Declension (section)

==Modern English==
{{Further|Old English grammar#Nouns}}
In [[Modern English]], the system of declensions is so simple compared to some other languages that the term ''declension'' is rarely used.

===Nouns===
Most nouns in English have distinct ''singular'' and ''[[plural]]'' forms. Nouns and most noun phrases can form a ''[[possessive]]'' construction. Plurality is most commonly shown by the [[affix|ending]] ''-s'' (or ''-es''), whereas possession is always shown by the en[[clitic]] ''-'s'' or, for plural forms ending in ''s'', by just an apostrophe.

Consider, for example, the forms of the noun ''[[girl]]''. Most speakers pronounce all forms other than the singular plain form (''girl'') exactly the same.{{NoteTag|The elided possessive-indicating ''s'' of the plural possessive may be realised as [z] in some speakers' pronunciations, being separated from the plural-indicating ''s'' normally by a central vowel such as [ɨ̞].}}

{|class="wikitable"
|-
 ! 
 ! Singular
 ! Plural
|-
 ! Plain
 | girl
 | girls
|-
 ! Possessive
 | girl's
 | girls'
|}

By contrast, a few irregular nouns (like [[man]]/men) are slightly more complex in their forms. In this example, all four forms are pronounced distinctly.

{|class="wikitable"
|-
 ! 
 ! Singular
 ! Plural
|-
 ! Plain
 | man
 | men
|-
 ! Possessive
 | man's
 | men's
|}

For nouns, in general, gender is not declined in Modern English. There are isolated situations where certain nouns may be modified to reflect gender, though not in a systematic fashion. Loan words from other languages, particularly Latin and the Romance languages, often preserve their gender-specific forms in English, e.g. ''alumnus'' (masculine singular) and ''alumna'' (feminine singular). Similarly, names borrowed from other languages show comparable distinctions: ''Andrew'' and ''Andrea'', ''Paul'' and ''Paula'', etc. Additionally, suffixes such as ''-ess'', ''-ette'', and ''-er'' are sometimes applied to create overtly gendered versions of nouns, with marking for feminine being much more common than marking for masculine. Many nouns can actually function as members of two genders or even all three, and the gender classes of English nouns are usually determined by their agreement with pronouns, rather than marking on the nouns themselves.

There can be other derivations from nouns that are not considered declensions. For example, the proper noun ''[[wikt:Britain|Britain]]'' has the associated descriptive adjective ''[[wikt:British|British]]'' and the [[demonym]] ''[[wikt:Briton|Briton]]''. Though these words are clearly related, and are generally considered [[cognate]]s, they are not specifically treated as forms of the ''same word'', and thus are not declensions.

===Pronouns===
[[Pronouns]] in English have more complex declensions. For example, the [[First person pronoun|first person]] "[[wikt:I|I]]":

{|class="wikitable"
|-
 ! 
 ! Singular
 ! Plural
|-
 ! Subjective
 | I
 | we
|-
 ! Objective
 | me
 | us
|-
 ! Dependent possessive
 | my
 | our
|-
 ! Independent possessive
 | mine
 | ours
|}

Whereas nouns do not distinguish between the [[nominative case|subjective (nominative)]] and [[oblique case|objective (oblique)]] cases, some pronouns do; that is, they decline to reflect their relationship to a [[verb]] or [[preposition]], or [[grammatical case|case]]. Consider the difference between ''he'' (subjective) and ''him'' (objective), as in "He saw it" and "It saw him"; similarly, consider ''[[Who (pronoun)|who]]'', which is subjective, and the objective ''whom'' (although it is increasingly common to use ''who'' for both).

The one situation where [[gender]]{{NoteTag|Gender in English is not [[grammatical gender|grammatical]] but [[natural gender]].}} is still clearly part of the English language is in the pronouns for the third person singular. Consider the following:

{|class="wikitable"
|-
 ! rowspan="2" | 
 ! rowspan="2" | Masculine
 ! rowspan="2" | Feminine
 ! colspan="2" | Neuter
|-
 ! non-person
 ! person
|-
 ! Subjective
 | he
 | she
 | rowspan="2" | it
 | they
|-
 ! Objective
 | him
 | rowspan="2" | her
 | them
|-
 ! Dependent possessive
 | rowspan="2" | his
 | rowspan="2" | its
 | their
|-
 ! Independent possessive
 | hers
 | theirs
|}

The distinguishing of neuter for persons and non-persons is peculiar to English. This has existed since the 14th century.<ref name="Butterfield p814">{{Cite book|page=814|last1=Fowler |first1=H.W.|editor1-last=Butterfield |editor1-first=Jeremy|title= Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-966135-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Huddleston |first1=Rodney |author-link1=Rodney Huddleston |last2= Pullum |first2= Geoffrey K. |author-link2= Geoffrey Pullum|title=The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |year=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge; New York |isbn=0-521-43146-8 |page=494 }}</ref> However, the use of ''[[singular they]]'' is often restricted to specific contexts, depending on the dialect or the speaker. It is most typically used to refer to a single person of unknown gender (e.g. "someone left their jacket behind") or a hypothetical person where gender is insignificant (e.g. "If someone wants to, then they should"). Its use has expanded in recent years due to increasing social recognition of persons who do not identify themselves as male or female<ref>{{cite news | title=The singular, gender-neutral 'they' added to the Associated Press Stylebook | author=Andrews, Travis M. | date=March 28, 2017 | newspaper=Washington Post | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/28/the-singular-gender-neutral-they-added-to-the-associated-press-stylebook/}}</ref> (see [[Non-binary gender|gender-nonbinary]]). The ''singular they'' still uses plural verb forms, reflecting its origins.

===Adjectives and adverbs===
Some English adjectives and adverbs are declined for [[degree of comparison]]. The unmarked form is the [[positive (linguistics)|positive]] form, such as ''quick''. Comparative forms are formed with the ending ''-er'' (''quicker''), while superlative forms are formed with ''-est'' (''quickest''). Some are uncomparable; the remainder are usually periphrastic constructions with ''more'' (''more beautiful'') and ''most'' (''most modestly''). See [[degree of comparison]] for more.

Adjectives are not declined for case in Modern English (though they were in Old English), nor number nor gender.{{NoteTag|A few adjectives borrowed from other languages are, or can be, declined for gender, at least in writing: ''blond'' (male) and ''blonde'' (female).}}

===Determiners===
The demonstrative determiners ''this'' and ''that'' are declined for number, as ''these'' and ''those''.

The [[English articles|article]] is never regarded as declined in Modern English, although formally, the words ''that'' and possibly ''[[She (pronoun)|she]]'' correspond to forms of the predecessor of ''the'' (''sē'' m., ''þæt'' n., ''sēo'' f.) as it was declined in Old English.