1. Number:
* Singular: Refers to one item (e.g., cat, book, city)
* Plural: Refers to more than one item (e.g., cats, books, cities)
Methods of forming plurals:
* Adding -s: cats, books, cities
* Adding -es: boxes, churches, kisses
* Irregular forms: children, mice, teeth
* No change: sheep, deer
2. Case:
* Nominative: Subject of the verb (e.g., The cat sat on the mat)
* Objective: Object of a verb or preposition (e.g., I saw the cat. I put the book on the table)
* Possessive: Shows ownership (e.g., The cat's tail was long. The children's toys were scattered)
English only has one case: possessive (indicated by adding 's or s' to the noun).
3. Gender:
* Masculine: Refers to male beings (e.g., king, brother, father)
* Feminine: Refers to female beings (e.g., queen, sister, mother)
* Neuter: Refers to objects or things (e.g., table, book, city)
English does not have grammatical gender, but some nouns have distinct masculine and feminine forms (e.g., prince/princess, actor/actress).
4. Other Inflections:
* Diminutives: Small or endearing forms (e.g., kitten, booklet, citylet)
* Augmentatives: Larger or intensified forms (e.g., giant, huge)
Examples:
* Number: The dog is brown. The dogs are brown.
* Case: The cat chased the mouse. The cat's tail was twitching.
* Gender: The prince and princess danced.
* Diminutives: The kitten was playing with a ball of yarn.
It's important to note that English noun inflection is relatively simple compared to other languages. Many languages have more elaborate systems of noun inflection, including different case endings for different grammatical functions.