Question

The inflection that distinguishes between 'cat' and 'cats' marks which grammatical category?

• A. A. Tense
• B. B. Person
• C. C. Number
• D. D. Case

Answer 1

Answer:

C. C. Number

Grammatical Category: Number

• The inflection that distinguishes between 'cat' and 'cats' marks the grammatical category of Number.
• In English grammar, Number refers to the distinction between a single entity (singular) and multiple entities (plural).
• For nouns, the singular form denotes one item (e.g., 'cat'), while the plural form denotes more than one item (e.g., 'cats').
• The addition of the suffix '-s' or '-es' is the most common way to form the plural of regular nouns in English. This change is an example of inflection.

• Key Points on Number for Competitive Exams:

  • Singular Nouns: Refer to one person, place, thing, or idea (e.g., table, book, child, city).
  • Plural Nouns: Refer to more than one person, place, thing, or idea (e.g., tables, books, children, cities).
  • Regular Plurals: Most nouns form their plural by adding '-s' (e.g., dog → dogs) or '-es' (for nouns ending in -s, -x, -ch, -sh, -z; e.g., bus → buses, box → boxes, watch → watches).
  • Irregular Plurals: These do not follow the standard '-s' or '-es' rule. Common examples include:
    • Vowel changes: man → men, foot → feet, tooth → teeth
    • Suffix changes: child → children, ox → oxen
    • No change: sheep → sheep, fish → fish, deer → deer, series → series
    • Foreign plurals (often from Latin/Greek): cactus → cacti, phenomenon → phenomena, analysis → analyses, criterion → criteria
  • Nouns Always Singular: Some nouns are always treated as singular, even though they may convey a collective sense. Examples include: news, mathematics, economics, physics, advice, information, furniture, luggage, machinery, scenery, poetry. They take singular verbs.
  • Nouns Always Plural: Some nouns exist only in plural form and take plural verbs. Examples include: scissors, trousers, spectacles, pliers, contents, surroundings, thanks, riches, police, cattle.
  • Agreement: The number of the subject (singular or plural) dictates the form of the verb (subject-verb agreement). For instance, 'The cat sits' (singular subject, singular verb) vs. 'The cats sit' (plural subject, plural verb).