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In many languages, a plural (sometimes abbreviated as pl., pl, ', or '), is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This default quantity is most commonly one (a form that represents this default quantity of one is said to be of singular number). Therefore, plurals most typically denote two or more of something, although they may also denote fractional, zero or negative amounts. An example of a plural is the English word boys, which corresponds to the singular boy.
Words of other types, such as , and , also frequently have distinct plural forms, which are used in agreement with the number of their associated nouns.
Some languages also have a dual (denoting exactly two of something) or other systems of number categories. However, in English language and many other languages, singular and plural are the only grammatical numbers, except for possible remnants of dual number in pronouns such as both and either, and in tendency for stock phrases to use "two" as an umbrella term for "many" (eg "double jeopardy" includes prosecuting a person three, four or a dozen times on the same charge).
Some languages (like Mele-Fila) distinguish between a plural and a greater plural. A greater plural refers to an abnormally large number for the object of discussion. The distinction between the paucal, the plural, and the greater plural is often relative to the type of object under discussion. For example, in discussing oranges, the paucal number might imply fewer than ten, whereas for the population of a country, it might be used for a few hundred thousand.
The Austronesian languages of Sursurunga and Lihir language have extremely complex grammatical number systems, with singular, dual, paucal, greater paucal, and plural.
Traces of the dual and paucal can be found in some Slavic languages and Baltic languages (apart from those that preserve the dual number, such as Slovene language). These are known as "pseudo-dual" and "pseudo-paucal" grammatical numbers. For example, Polish language and Russian language use different forms of nouns with the numerals 2, 3, or 4 (and higher numbers ending with these) than with the numerals 5, 6, etc. (genitive singular in Russian and nominative plural in Polish in the former case, genitive plural in the latter case). Also some nouns may follow different declension patterns when denoting objects which are typically referred to in pairs. For example, in Polish, the noun "oko", among other meanings, may refer to a human or animal eye or to a drop of oil on water. The plural of "oko" in the first meaning is "oczy" (even if actually referring to more than two eyes), while in the second it is "oka" (even if actually referring to exactly two drops).
Traces of dual can also be found in Modern Hebrew. Biblical Hebrew had grammatical dual via the suffix as opposed to for masculine words. Contemporary use of a true dual number in Hebrew is chiefly used in words regarding time and numbers. However, in Biblical and Modern Hebrew, the pseudo-dual as plural of "eyes" "eye / eyes" as well as "hands", "legs" and several other words are retained. For further information, see .
Certain nouns in some languages have the unmarked form referring to multiple items, with an inflected form referring to a single item. These cases are described with the terms collective number and singulative number. Some languages may possess a massive plural and a numerative plural, the first implying a large mass and the second implying division (like the English modifer "respectively"). For example, "the combined waters of the Atlantic Ocean" versus, "the waters of each the Great Lakes respectively".
Ghil'ad Zuckermann uses the term superplural to refer to massive plural. He argues that the Australian Aboriginal Barngarla language has four grammatical numbers: singular, dual, plural and superplural.Zuckermann, Ghil'ad 2020, , Oxford University Press. (ISBN 9780199812790 / ISBN 9780199812776) For example:
In English, the most common formation of plural nouns is by adding an - s suffix to the singular noun. (For details and different cases, see English plurals.) Just like in English, noun plurals in French, Spanish, and Portuguese are also typically formed by adding an -s suffix to the lemma form, sometimes combining it with an additional vowel. (In French, however, this plural suffix is often not pronounced.) This construction is also found in German and Dutch, but only in some nouns. Suffixing is cross-linguistically the most common method of forming plurals.
In Welsh language, the reference form, or default quantity, of some nouns is plural, and the singular form is formed from it, e.g., llygod, mice -> llygoden, mouse; erfin, turnips -> erfinen, turnip.
often agree with their subject in number (as well as in person and sometimes gender). Examples of plural forms are the French language mangeons, mangez, mangent – respectively the first-, second- and third-person plural of the present tense of the verb manger. In English a distinction is made in the third person between forms such as eats (singular) and eat (plural).
may agree with the noun they modify; examples of plural forms are the French petits and petites (the masculine plural and feminine plural respectively of petit). The same applies to some determiners – examples are the French plural definite article les, and the English demonstratives these and those.
It is common for , particularly , to have distinct plural forms. Examples in English are we ( us, etc.) and they ( them etc.; see English personal pronouns), and again these and those (when used as demonstrative pronouns).
In Welsh, a number of common prepositions also inflect to agree with the number, person, and sometimes gender of the noun or pronoun they govern.
Certain do not have a singular form and exist only in the plural, such as "clothes".
There are also nouns found exclusively or almost exclusively in the plural, such as the English scissors. These are referred to with the term plurale tantum. Occasionally, a plural form can pull double duty as the singular form (or vice versa), as has happened with the word "data".
Treatments differ in expressions of zero quantity: English often uses the plural in such expressions as no injuries and zero points, although no (and zero in some contexts) may also take a singular. In French, the singular form is used after zéro.
English also tends to use the plural with , even if less than one, as in 0.3 metres, 0.9 children. less than one tend to be used with singular expressions: half (of) a loaf, two-thirds of a mile. are usually treated the same as the corresponding positive ones: minus one degree, minus two degrees. Again, rules on such matters differ between languages.
In some languages, including English, expressions that appear to be singular in form may be treated as plural if they are used with a plural sense, as in the government are agreed. The reverse is also possible: the United States is a powerful country. See synesis, and also .
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