Plural

==Usage of the plural==
The plural is used, as a rule, for quantities other than one (and other than those quantities represented by other grammatical numbers, such as dual, which a language may possess). Thus it is frequently used with numbers higher than one (''two cats'', ''101 dogs'', ''four and a half hours'') and for unspecified amounts of countable things (''some men'', ''several cakes'', ''how many lumps?'', ''birds have feathers''). The precise rules for the use of plurals, however, depends on the language – for example [[Russian language|Russian]] uses the genitive singular rather than the plural after certain numbers (see above).

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 [[decimal fraction]]s, even if less than one, as in ''0.3 metres'', ''0.9 children''. [[Common fraction]]s less than one tend to be used with singular expressions: ''half (of) a loaf'', ''two-thirds of a mile''. [[Negative number]]s 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 {{slink|English plural|Singulars as plural and plurals as singular}}.