eli5 why do we use “s” at the end of words with 0 quantity?

Question

0 elephants

1 elephant

2 elephants

100 elephants

I understand the “s” for quantities larger than 1 because it’s plural (more than 1) — but why for 0, which is less than 1? Why does it just “feel more comfortable” (including for me)? Is there a logical reason behind it?

In: 5848

Answer 1

A lot of people are explaining the grammar rule very well but since you technically asked “why” the very mundane answer is that the somewhere in the English language’s lineage it happened to change in way for that rule to emerge.