Grammatical number
This article deals with the term numerus as a grammatical form of counting. For other meanings, see Numerus (disambiguation).
The numerus (plural: numeri; German: Zahl, Anzahl) is in grammar a counting form for the determination of quantitative values, i.e. for the determination or distinction of number.
Depending on the language, there are the following numerals: singular (singular), dual[is] (dual number), paral, trial, quadral, paukal, plural (plural), distributive. For example, Classical Arabic, Slovenian, and Sorbian have dual forms for all nouns and verbs, but Hebrew has dual forms only for paired body parts (hands, lips, etc.) and some tense terms. Many non-European languages, such as Chinese, on the other hand, do not know numerus as a category of grammar - number is expressed in this case only when necessary by means of numeral words or quantities, and is omitted when unambiguous.
In German grammar, the singular (singular) and the plural (plural) are distinguished. Numerals here form the following parts of speech: noun, adjective, article, pronoun and verb.
There are also words that are either singular only or plural only; these are called singulariatantum and pluraliatantum respectively.
Examples for the different numerus of German nouns in the nominative case (see also German declension):
Numerus in art
See also
- Collective noun - expression grouping together an indefinite number of things of the same kind.
- Substance name - expression for things that cannot be counted (material names)
- Counting - an action to determine the number of elements in a finite set of equivalent objects.
Questions and Answers
Q: What is grammatical number?
A: Grammatical number is the way numbers and counting are fitted into sentences.
Q: How do most languages express differences of number?
A: Most languages have ways to express differences of number.
Q: What are common categories of grammatical number?
A: Common categories of grammatical number are singular (one) or plural (not one).
Q: Are there other types of grammatical number?
A: Some languages have a notion of dual, for two, or of paucal, for "a few".
Q: Are there any languages that do not have the concept of grammatical number?
A: Yes, some languages (like Chinese) do not have the concept of grammatical number, and numbers or other quantifiers are used if necessary.
Q: Are there any words that do not have a grammatical number?
A: Yes, there may be words that have only one form or are not countable.
Q: Can you give an example of a sentence with grammatical number?
A: "That apple on the table is fresh" and "Those two apples on the table are fresh" are examples of sentences with grammatical number.
