Literary notes about Plural (AI summary)
The term “plural” has been employed in literature both as a technical grammatical category and as a nuanced stylistic device. In grammar texts, it is presented as a fundamental entity describing forms of nouns, verbs, and pronouns—as seen in numerous entries and instructions in works like Farley and Kittredge’s Advanced English Grammar ([1], [2], [3], [4]) that detail how plural forms affect verb agreement, pronoun usage, and compound nouns ([5], [6]). In addition, writers have exploited the plural to convey subtle shifts in meaning or social nuance; for instance, Dickens refers to a single chamber being “mentioned in a plural number” to evoke a fanciful atmosphere ([7]), while Dante uses the plural form deliberately to impart elevated moral or social respect ([8]). Moreover, studies in mythological and linguistic contexts explore plural forms as markers of meaning in different languages, whether in the personifications of natural forces ([9], [10]) or in the evolution of language over time ([11], [12]). Together, these examples demonstrate the multifaceted role of “plural” in literature—serving as both an essential analytical tool and a flexible element in creative expression.
- PLURAL 1.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - Present Tense SINGULAR PLURAL 1.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - PLURAL 1.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - PLURAL 1.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - When compound nouns are made plural, the last part usually takes the plural form; less often the first part; rarely both parts.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - Collective nouns take sometimes a singular and sometimes a plural verb.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - By a like pleasant fiction his single chamber was always mentioned in a plural number.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens - Dante never uses the plural form to a single person except when desirous of showing social as distinguished from, or over and above, moral respect.
— from The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: The Inferno by Dante Alighieri - Thunder is always personified in the plural, Ani′-Hyûñ′tikwălâ′skĭ, “The Thunderers.”
— from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney - aktă′—eye; plural, diktă′ .
— from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney - Now generally used as a singular; but in old writers both as singular and as plural.
— from The Lady of the Lake by Walter Scott - Later, walks (a dialect form) was substituted for walketh , and still later the second person singular was replaced in ordinary use by the plural.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge
