The cannon used in the war are of tremendous size. Here we know are meant all the big guns used in the war.
When you say, The sheep is lost, we know you mean one sheep, but when you say, The sheep are in the pasture, we know you mean the entire drove.
84. When preceded by a numeral, the following nouns have the same form for both singular and plural. Without the numerals, the plural is formed by the adding of s; brace, couple, dozen, hundred, pair, score, thousand, yoke. For example:
- Thousands enlisted.
- Three thousand enlisted.
- Dozens came at my call.
- Two dozen came when I called.
GENDER
85. All of the changes we have studied so far have been for the purpose of indicating number; but among the nouns that name living beings, many change to show to which sex the object named belongs. These nouns change in form to distinguish between the masculine and the feminine. This is called gender.
Gender is the distinction in words that denotes sex.
The nouns that denote females are called feminine nouns.
The nouns that denote males are called masculine nouns.
86. The feminine form is generally made by the addition of ess to the masculine form. Thus: