Editing English plurals (section)

==Usage and number agreement==

=== Nouns used attributively ===
Nouns used attributively to qualify other nouns are generally in the singular, even though for example, a ''dog catcher'' catches more than one dog, and a ''department store'' has more than one department. This is true even for some [[binary noun]]s where the singular form is not found in isolation, such as a ''trouser mangle'' or the ''scissor kick''. This is also true where the attribute noun is itself qualified with a number, such as a ''twenty-dollar bill'', a ''ten-foot pole'' or a ''two-man tent''. The plural is used for {{Lang|la|[[pluralia tantum]]}} nouns: a ''glasses case'' is for eyeglasses, while a ''glass case'' is made of glass (but compare ''eyeglass case''); also an ''arms race'' versus ''arm wrestling''. The plural may be used to emphasise the plurality of the attribute, especially in [[British English]] but very rarely in [[American English]]: a ''careers advisor'', a ''languages expert''. The plural is also more common with irregular plurals for various attributions: ''women killers'' are women who kill, whereas ''woman killers'' are those who kill women.

The singular and plural forms of loanwords from other languages where countable nouns used attributively are, unlike English, plural and come at the end of the word are sometimes modified when entering English usage. For example, in Spanish, nouns composed of a verb and its plural object usually have the verb first and noun object last (e.g. the legendary monster ''[[chupacabra]]s'', literally "sucks-goats", or in a more natural English formation "goatsucker") and the plural form of the object noun is retained in both the singular and plural forms of the compound (i.e. singular ''el chupacabras'', plural ''los chupacabras''). However, when entering English, the final s of ''chupacabras'' was treated as a plural of the compound (i.e. the monster) rather than of the object of the verb (i.e. the goats), and so "chupacabra" without an s is the singular in English, even though in Spanish ''chupacabra'' could literally be construed as a creature that sucks only one single goat.

===Teams and their members===
In the names of sports teams, sometimes a noun will be given a regular plural in ''-s'' even though that noun in normal use has an irregular plural form (a particular case of [[#Headless nouns|headless nouns]] as described above). For example, there are teams called the [[Miami Marlins]] and the [[Toronto Maple Leafs]], even though the word ''[[marlin]]'' normally has its plural identical to the singular and the plural of ''leaf'' is ''leaves''. (This does not always apply; for example, there is the [[Minnesota Lynx]], not *''Lynxes''.) Some teams use a non-standard plural spelling in their names, such as the [[Boston Red Sox]] and [[Chicago White Sox]].

When a sport team's name is plural, the corresponding singular is often used to denote a member of that team; for example a player for the [[Cincinnati Reds]] may be referred to as a ''(Cincinnati) Red''. This also applies to the [[St. Louis Blues]] ice hockey team, even though it is named after the song the "[[St. Louis Blues (song)|St. Louis Blues]]" and thus ''blues'' was originally a singular identical to its plural.

When a team's name is plural in form but cannot be singularized by removing an ''-s'', as in ''Boston Red Sox'', the plural is sometimes used as a singular (a player may be referred to as "a Red Sox"). Oftentimes, the singular "Red Sox" will be pronounced as if it were "Red Sock", even though the spelling suggests otherwise.

When a team's name is singular, as in ''[[Miami Heat]]'' and ''[[Colorado Avalanche]]'', the same singular word may also sometimes be used to denote a player (''a Heat'', ''an Avalanche''). When referring to more than one player, it is normal to use ''Heat players'' or ''Avalanche players'' (although in the latter case the team's plural-form nickname ''Avs'' is also available).

For the (especially British) treatment of teams as plural even if they have singular names, see {{slink||Singulars with collective meaning treated as plural}} above.

=== Adjectives as collective plurals ===
Certain adjectives can be used, uninflected, as plurals denoting people of the designated type. For example, ''unemployed'' and ''homeless'' can be used to mean "unemployed people" and "homeless people", as in ''There are two million unemployed.'' Such usage is common with the definite article, to denote people of a certain type generally: ''the unemployed'', ''the homeless''.

This is common with certain nationalities: ''the British'', ''the Dutch'', ''the English'', ''the French'', ''the Irish'', ''the Spanish'', ''the Welsh'', and those where the adjective and noun singular and plural are identical anyway, including ''the Swiss'' and those in ''-ese'' (''the Chinese'' etc.). In the case of most nationalities, however, the plural of the [[demonym]] noun is used for this purpose: ''(the) Americans'', ''(the) Poles''. Cases where the adjective formation is possible, but the noun provides a commonly used alternative, include ''the Scottish'' (or more commonly ''(the) Scots''), ''the Danish'' (or ''(the) Danes''), ''the Finnish'' (or ''(the) Finns''), ''the Swedish'' (or ''(the) Swedes'').

The noun is normally used anyway when referring to specific sets of people (''five Frenchmen'', ''a few Spaniards''), although the adjective may be used especially in case of a group of mixed or unspecified sex, if the demonym nouns are gender-specific: ''there were five French'' (or ''French people'') ''in the bar'' (if neither ''Frenchmen'' or ''Frenchwomen'' would be appropriate).

=== Numerical quantities ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2023}}
In common parlance, ''plural'' simply means "more than one". A quantity of one may sometimes be grammatically inflected as plural.

====Decimals are always plural====
Any quantity that includes decimal precision is plural. This includes 1 followed by any number of zeros. It is normal to say ''1.0 gallon'''s''' per flush'', for instance, ''0.6 unit'''s''''', or ''3.3 child'''ren''' per couple,'' not *''1.0 gallon,'' *''0.6 unit,'' or *''3.3 child per couple.''

====Fractions====
Fractions are themselves singular or plural depending on the [[Fraction (mathematics)|numerator]] (e.g. ''one eighth'' vs ''two eighth'''s'''''), and whatever they apply to can be singular or plural (e.g., ''three-quarters of the apple(s)''), depending on whether it refers to a fraction of a single item or many items.

====Equivalent to zero is usually plural====
Any zero quantity can be plural or singular, though plural is the default. So the following plurals are standard.
* ''We have no bananas.''
* ''We have zero bananas.''
* ''We don't have any bananas.''

However, if it has already been established that one item was in question, one can use ''no'' to deny that such an item exists in the singular:
* ''"Can you pass me the banana on your desk?" "There's no banana on my desk."''

===Interrogative pronouns===
The interrogative pronouns ''who'' and ''what'' generally take singular agreement,<ref name=Huddleston>{{Cite book|pages=505–506|last1=Huddleston |first1=Rodney |author-link1=Rodney Huddleston|last2= Pullum |first2= Geoffrey |author-link2=Geoffrey Pullum|title=The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |year=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-43146-8}}</ref> e.g.
* ''Who works there?''
In some cases, a plural verb can be used when the answer is expected to be plural<ref name=Huddleston/>
* ''What have big ears and trunks?''
When followed by a plural predicative complement, a plural verb must be used:<ref name=Huddleston/>
* ''What are the main reasons?''
not
* *''What is the main reasons?''
Following ''which'', a singular verb suggests a singular answer, and a plural verb suggests a plural answer:<ref name=Huddleston/>
* ''Which of these answers is correct?'' (single choice)
* ''Which of these answers are correct?'' (multiple choice)
<!--Relative pronouns, however, commonly take plural agreement (e.g., ''I saw the workers who were leaving.''). Not the topic of this section-->

When asking ''How many?'', plural is standard (e.g. ''How many bananas?'' not *''How many banana?''), even if the expected answer is only one.

=== Determiners ===
Many determiners are "indifferent as to the number of the head" noun,<ref name="Huddleston2" />{{Rp|page=353}} while others are selective. The following determiners select a plural head: ''both'', ''several'', ''many'', ''few'', ''a few'', ''you'', ''we'' and all cardinal numerals except ''one''. Along with these, ''a''/''an'' and ''another'' are compatible with quantified plurals (e.g., ''another five days'' but not ''*another days'').<ref name="Huddleston2" />{{Rp|page=353}}

=== Adjectives ===
A number of adjectives are used primarily with plural nouns. These include ''numerous'' and ''countless'',<ref name="Huddleston2" />{{Rp|page=353}} though singular examples like ''a numerous class'' or ''a countless multitude'' are also possible.