Number Grammar: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know what number grammar is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on number, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!

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What is number?

According to Grammar Monster, number is a grammatical category in which nouns, pronouns, determiners, and verbs can be singular or plural. Singular refers to a quantity of one, while plural refers to more than one. A noun can take many forms – a singular form, plural form/plural noun, mass noun, count noun, and so on. There is also a singular verb and plural verb. Confusingly, numbers themselves can be either a singular number or a plural number, as well as compound numbers. You can use numerals in headings and titles, as well as for writing numbers ten and above. Consult a style manual like the Chicago Manual of Style if you are confused. Singular and plural words can be used in first person, second person or third person, and sometimes have gender like pronouns. Plural words often end in s, es, or ies. There are many types of numbers, including cardinal numbers, long numbers, ordinal numbers, units of measurement, and more.

What are examples of numbers?

Numbers can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or grammatical technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of numbers that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use.  Take a look at these number examples from Learn Grammar and Grammar Monster and see how many you can identify the number in!

  •  It’s simple. If it jiggles, it’s fat. (Arnold Schwarzenegger)
  •  Neither Jack nor his daughters are outside. 
  •  Half of the American people have never read a newspaper, and half have never voted. One hopes it is the same half.  (Writer Gore Vidal)
  •  Half of my life has put the other half in the grave.  (French dramatist Pierre Corneille)
  •  Bill or Ben is guilty of breaking the sunflower. 
  •  We have a dual meter that was built in the 1990s.
  •  A balanced diet means a cupcake in each hand.
  •  Some are wise and some are otherwise. (Poet Tobias Smollett)
  •  Most of the story does not make sense. 
  •  Bill and Ben are the Flowerpot Men. 
  •  The flock are scattering in different directions. 
  •  We bought a bunch of flowers and a number of apples.
  •  Bill together with Ben is a Flowerpot Man. 
  •  “Revenge” sounds mean, which is the reason I call it “returning the favour.”
  •  I want to be one of those ones: a legend. (Rapper Ty Dolla Sign)
  •  Each of my garments is something special in itself.  (Fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy)
  •  The number of missing pies is 4. 
  •  We ate many potatoes.
  •  We studied the digits in Old English as well as the use of numbers in Indo-European languages.
  •  A number of cars were on the lawn.
  •  Dogs seek masters. Cats seek waiters.
  •  If women ran things, we wouldn’t have wars, just intense negotiations every 28 days. (Actor Robin Williams)
  •  Flies fly.
  •  A number of people are still sleeping rough in the town. 
  •  None of us are happy. 
  •  That man stalks her.
  •  Half of the cheeses are missing. 
  •  Neither Bill nor Ben has a clue about gardening. 
  •  Some of the cheese is missing. 
  •  None of the souffles are presentable. 
  •  This love is silent. (Playwright TS Eliot)
  •  A number of pies are missing. 
  •  I write my own quotations…except this one. I stole this one from somebody really clever. (Author Brian Celio)
  •  Everything is self-evident. (French philosopher Rene Descartes).
  •  None of us is a volunteer. 
  •  These accolades get in the way. (Singer Bob Dylan)
  •  When policemen on bikes arrest people, do they put them in their baskets?
  •  The number of people sleeping rough is growing. 
  •  None of us is happy. 
  •  I love my six-pack so much, I protect it with a layer of fat.
  •  They smoke those leaves.
  •  A fly flies.
  •  Either of the twins is available. 
  •  Each of the guide dogs is assigned a trainer. 
  •  Each of us bears his own Hell.  (Roman poet Virgil)
  •  The flock is moving away. 
  •  They succeed because they think they can. (Roman poet Virgil)
  •  My team is outside. My team are running off in different directions. 
  •  Most of the people do not realize it, but we’re part of something much bigger than ourselves, and we’re all connected in some way…not just through Facebook. 
  • Quorn nuggets or quorn chilli? Er, neither is my preference. 

What are other grammar terms?

There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you. 

  • stem
  •  double object
  •  pronoun (pron.)
  •  first person
  •  noun phrase
  •  apposition
  •  apodosis and protasis
  •  part of speech
  •  verb (v.)
  •  indirect passive
  •  adjective
  •  interrogative
  •  determiner
  •  interjection
  •  comparative
  •  subjective
  •  participle | past participle | present participle
  •  absolute (absol.)
  •  inflection | inflected | inflectional
  •  definite article
  •  optative
  •  anticipatory
  •  bare infinitive
  •  that-clause
  •  number
  •  complement
  •  person
  •  second person
  •  dual
  •  modal verb | modal auxiliary verb | modal auxiliary
  •  feminine
  •  object | direct object | indirect object
  •  collocation | collocate
  •  possessive pronoun
  •  phrasal verb
  •  direct question
  •  present tense
  •  parenthetical | parenthetically
  •  ellipsis | elliptical
  •  subject
  •  adverb (adv.)
  •  construction
  •  positive
  •  passive
  •  passive infinitive
  •  exclamation mark
  •  copular verb | copula
  •  personal pronoun
  •  subjunctive
  •  vocative
  •  third-person
  •  verbal noun
  •  indicative
  •  appositive
  •  to-infinitive
  •  parasynthetic
  •  imperative (imper.)
  •  abstract
  •  progressive
  •  combination
  •  modify | modifier
  •  direct object
  •  predicative

Overall, number is a grammatical category in which nouns, pronouns, determiners, and verbs can be singular or plural

Sources:

  1. Number: Types, Rules & Examples | Learn English 
  2. Glossary of grammatical terms | OED 
  3. Number in Grammar | What Is Number in Grammar? | Grammar Monster Â