Hi Alan,
Grammar question:-
How do we explain singular and plural nouns?
Eg.
Singular Plural
A girl Many girls
A boy Many boys
A sheep Many sheep
Singular for sheep is sheep while plural for sheep is also sheep.
My students asked me for an explanation.
How do I explain to them? Do I say exceptional case?
Thank you.
Regards,
Lee
Hi,
Some words don’t change in the plural and ‘sheep’ is one of them. The explanation is that it is an exception. They are called ‘zero’ plurals - aircraft/fish/pheasant/deer/giraffe. As you can see from the last 4, they are often collections of animals.
Alan
Pheasant and giraffe can be made plural, though, or at least they are in AmE.
I live in prime pheasant hunting country, where people come from all across the US to hunt pheasants. I personally have killed many pheasants, both with my gun, and unfortunately, the grill or windshield of my car.
Giraffes, however, are much rarer, and nobody hunts them here.
Hi,
Of course you can add an ‘s’ to ‘giraffe’ and ‘pheasant’ if you want - you don’t have to be American.
Alan