eli5: as a native english speaker, how are we supposed to know if an English words plural is the same as singular? (Ex: moose, sheep, paper)
In: Other
That’s the neat part, you don’t!
Those words are exceptions to the general rule that plural versions of words add an S to the end.
Because exceptions do not follow a rule, you just need to learn the exceptions, there isn’t an easy way to know how they all work.
What do you mean “as a native English speaker”? I’m not sure how that is relevant to an understanding. Plurals in English are often inconsistent, and generally just have to be learned.
Rote memorization. There are also comedy songs on the subject that tease on the exceptions for those with a more musical mEmory. But at the end of the day its like memorizing the gender of nouns in some languages. You just have to memorize it
English is, in fact, four languages (German, Greek, French, and Latin) in a trench coat that roughs other languages up for bits of spare vocabulary….
All joking aside, native speakers learn the rules of their primary language as they acquire it. Learning that both the singular and plural forms of “moose” and “sheep” are the same is a fairly universal experience for anyone learning English, whether as a native speaker learning from infancy or as a non-native speaker learning it as a foreign language.
Also, the plural form of “paper” can be “paper” or “papers”… It’s like “fish” in that way.
Context and by using other words to differentiate.
“That sheep” vs “Those sheep”
“look at that sheep” vs “look at that flock of sheep”.
Not a linguist but in my experience you simply cannot tell in advance and have to infer from context clues. The rule is: If they mean it as a plural, it is plural. If they mean it as a singular, it is singular. English has a lot of irregular words due to all its linguistic influences.
Words that stay the same when referring to the singular and the plural (such as “squid,” “sheep,” “fish,” and “species”) are a subset of [irregular nouns](https://proofed.com/writing-tips/irregular-plurals-spelling-tricks/#:~:text=Some%20irregular%20plurals%20actually%20stay,”%20(plural)%20are%20correct) but irregular nouns is a big category that includes more than just what you’re asking about. The good news is that [uncountable nouns](https://proofed.com/writing-tips/countable-uncountable-nouns/) (like “water” or “sand”) always stay the same regardless of the amount being described so there is a little bit of structure for you at the very least.
It kind of depends on the word origins. For example, Moose doesn’t have a plural because it comes from Algonquian, (Mooswa, ‘the animal that strips bark off of trees’) and the Algonquian doesn’t have a plural use for it.
Paper is a particularly tricky word.
“Hand me a sheet (or piece) of paper” is the singular form — you have to specify the measure to be clear. So “two sheets of paper” is also valid, for example.
“Hand me that paper” is generally for a stack or sheaf or ream of paper, so for more than one piece. You can use the words “some paper” or “that ream of paper” for clarity.
But if you say “hand me *that* paper” it’s contextual: it could be a stack of paper, but it could be used to refer to a single document, usually printed or written on, sitting on a desk or table.
And if you say “hand me those papers” it’s definitely documents, not blank sheets. That’s why you’ll hear “papers please” at a border crossing, often in old movies. It means “show me your travel documents”.
(There’s also “fish”, “fish” and “fishes”…)
The mouses lived in the hice of humans. Everyday they would go outside to look at all the big meese with their beautiful antlers, on which gooses would sit, looking at the stupid people. Peoples, if they were black.😀
See? Its easy!
Go with what sounds best and itll be right most of the time so just learn the occasional notable exceptions. As long as you get close people can figure it out.
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