English
In English, many nouns have a special form which is used to refer to more than one person or thing. This form is called the plural.
Most English nouns form their plural by adding ·s or ·es.
- dog → dogs
- picnic → picnics
- box → boxes
However, some English nouns have irregular plural forms.
- deer → deer
- ox → oxen
- nucleus → nuclei
- crisis → crises
- criterion → criteria
Latin
Like English nouns, Latin nouns have plural forms. Latin nouns change their endings for two reasons:
- to indicate that they are singular or plural
- to indicate their case: that they are in the nominative or accusative case.
This table gives four different forms for each noun. You need to memorise these forms.
| nouns ending in ·a | most nouns ending in ·us | some nouns ending in ·er | other nouns ending in ·er | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nominative singular | puella | via | colonus | filius | puer | ager |
| accusative singular | puellam | viam | colonum | filium | puerum | agrum |
| nominative plural | puellae | viae | coloni | filii | pueri | agri |
| accusative plural | puellas | vias | colonos | filios | pueros | agros |