Summary. Number is that property of a noun by which it denotes one object or more than one.

A singular noun denotes one object.

A plural noun denotes more than one object.

Nouns form their plural regularly by adding s or es to the singular.

Many nouns form their plural irregularly.

Exercise 1. Tell the plural of each of the following nouns. Tell how it is formed. Consult the dictionary when you are

Dutchman lasso

piano

Exercise 2.

court-martial will-o'-the-wisp

Select all the nouns in the following sen

tences, and tell whether they are singular or plural. Give the singular of each plural word, and the plural of each singular word.

1. Listen! In yonder pine woods what a cawing of crows!

2. A washstand in the corner, a chest of carved mahogany drawers, a looking-glass in a filigree frame, and a high-backed chair studded with brass nails like a coffin constituted the furniture.

3. There have always been medicine men, rain makers, wizards, conjurers, sorcerers, astrologers, and fortune tellers, ready to trade on the fears of the weak, the ignorant, and the superstitious.

4. April brought the blue scylla and the sweet violet; May brought the much-loved narcissus and lily of the valley.

5. In came the three Miss Fezziwigs, beaming and lovable. 6. People hardly ever do know where to be born until it is too late.

7. The bell in the church tower was striking six, but I undressed for the night and buried myself under the bedclothes.

8. As it fell out, the three princesses were talking one night of whom they would marry.

9. Poor Mrs. Wise! I'm sure she's to be pitied, living here with all these grandchildren.

10. As soon as Pussy heard me shut the gate in the yard at noon, when school was done, she would run up the stairs as hard as she could go.

11. The puppy's nightly couch was outside the stable, even 'during the coldest weather.

12. The fish, strange creatures called groupers, with great sluggish bodies and horribly human faces, come crowding up to be fed. 13. What a hardy set of men they were, those Northmen of old! 14. The streams that have entered into our American life come from springs very wide apart, - from the Puritan whom James I was persecuting, and from the courtiers whom he was patronizing; from the Dutchmen whom Charles II was fighting, and from the Covenanters whom he was trying to convert at the pistol's point; from the Scotchmen who had captured the north of Ireland, and from the Huguenots who had been driven out of the south of France. What is the use of listen, sentence 1, furniture, 2, horribly, 12?

How are the adjectives weak, ignorant, and superstitious used in sentence 3?

107. One of the characteristics of living things is sex; that is, all living things are male or female. Many nouns that are names of living things indicate sex. The noun king indicates the male sex. The noun queen indicates the female sex. The property of a noun by which it indicates the sex of the object named is called gender.

108. Since there are two sexes, there must be at least two genders. Nouns that indicate the male sex are said to be of the masculine gender; as, hero, grandfather.

Nouns that indicate the female sex are said to be of the feminine gender; as, hen, tigress, sister.

Note that sex, male or female, refers to a distinction, or difference, in the living creatures themselves, while gender is merely a property of their names that shows this distinction. It is absurd, therefore, to speak of a person of the masculine gender, but it is allowable to speak of masculine qualities, masculine attire, a masculine voice, etc.

109. Since things without life have no sex, the nouns that name such things have no gender; as, sky, tent, pie. Such words are said to be of the neuter gender. Neuter means neither.

110. Some nouns that may be applied to persons of either male or female sex are said to be of common gender; as, child, cousin, parent, clerk.

111. Gender is denoted in three ways:·

(1) By a pair of words; as, man, woman; bull, cow; lad, lass.

(2) By inflection, that is, by adding a syllable to the masculine noun to form the feminine; as, hero, heroine; lion, lioness; host, hostess.

What can you say of the words widow and widower?

(3) By prefixing a word whose gender is well known; as, bull moose, maidservant, she bear.

NOTE. Some feminine nouns are going out of use. We no longer use the words poetess or authoress. If a woman preaches, she is a minister; if she practices medicine, she is a doctor, not a "lady doctor."

Summary. Gender is that property of a noun which indicates the sex or non-sex of the object named.

There are four genders:

A noun of the masculine gender indicates the male sex. A noun of the feminine gender indicates the female sex.

A noun of the neuter gender indicates the absence of sex. A noun of common gender may indicate either the male or the female sex.

Gender is denoted (1) by different words, (2) by inflection, (3) by prefixing some gender word.

Exercise. Tell the gender of each noun in the following sentences. Tell how its gender is denoted. If you are in 'doubt about any word, consult the dictionary.

1. The she wolf lay agonizing in the darkest corner of the cave, licking in grim silence the raw stump of her right foreleg.

2. The wild goose winging at the head of the V knew of good feeding grounds near by, which he was ready to revisit.

3. Not vague was the fear of the brooding grouse in the far-off thicket, though the sound came to her but dimly.

4. At the captain's signal the Seabird came alongside, and Mr. Wintermute left Mrs. Howe and her little family to go on their journey alone.

5. Having sniffed the air for several minutes, without discerning anything to interest him, the great bull moose bethought him of his evening meal.

6. Here on the ridge a buck, with his herd of does and fawns, has established his winter "yard."

7. Without a second's hesitation the cow flung up her tail, gave a short bellow, and charged the bear.

8. Another thing that attracts attention is the animals tethered here, there, and everywhere. You see donkeys, goats, cows, even cats, hens, and turkeys, confined by the inevitable tether.

9. Never before since the nestlings broke the shell had her mate 'been so long away.

10. The pupils never entered the study except upon the most formal occasions.

11. A fine cock grouse alighted on a log some forty paces distant, stretched himself, strutted, spread his ruff and wings and tail, and was about to begin drumming.

12. Pedestrians walk where they will, here, there, or yonder.

13. Several men-of-war, with a multitude of smaller craft, are at anchor in Grassy Bay, and the admiral's ship is lying on the great floating dock for repairs.

14. Some civilians are buried here, and many little children; and I came upon a pathetic memorial to a fair young English wife, who followed her soldier husband hither with her little child, only to die on these far-off shores.

15. Any animal that had died from natural causes the wolves would not touch, and they even rejected anything that had been killed by the stockmen. Their choice and daily food was the tenderer part of a freshly killed yearling heifer. An old bull or cow they disdained, and though they occasionally took a young calf or colt, it was quite clear that veal or horseflesh was not their favorite diet. It was also known that they were not fond of mutton, although they often amused themselves by killing sheep.

XXX. POSSESSIVE NOUNS

112. Instead of saying, "I borrowed the knife belonging to Will," we are likely to say, "I borrowed Will's knife." Here we have a new form of the noun Will. It is used with the noun knife to denote ownership of the knife, and is called a possessive noun.

113. Since a possessive noun denotes ownership, it must be used with another noun, the name of the thing owned. The possessive noun is said to modify this other noun. In the expression doctor's car, the possessive noun doctor's modifies the noun car.

When the name of the thing owned is well known, it is often omitted. We say, "I bought these skates at Percy's," : and omit the word store. A word omitted in this way is said to be "understood."

114. Possessive nouns have a certain form of their own. The possessive singular of a noun is formed by adding to it the apostrophe and s; as, girl's desk; friend's home; George's boat.

NOTE. In a few common expressions, like for Jesus' sake, for conscience' sake, the possessive is formed, for the sake of euphony, by adding merely the apostrophe.