Declension facts for kids

Declension is a cool word in linguistics, which is the study of language. It means changing the form of a word to show what job it does in a sentence. Think of it like a word putting on different outfits for different occasions!

This change is called inflection. When verbs change their form, it's called conjugation. But for other words, it's declension.

Declension mostly happens to nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and words like "the" or "a" (called articles). These changes help us understand things like:

• Number: Is there one of something (singular), or more than one (plural)? Some languages even have a "dual" form for exactly two!
• Case: What role does the word play? Is it the one doing the action, the one receiving the action, or does it show ownership?
• Gender: In some languages, words are grouped into categories like masculine, feminine, or neuter.

Declension in English

Even though English doesn't have as much declension as some other languages, we still use it!

Showing Number

One common way we use declension in English is to show if there's one of something or many.

For example, if you have one boy, the word stays "boy." But if you have more than one, it becomes boys.

• "My family has one boy, but my friend's family has three boys."

The word "boy" is the singular form, meaning just one. The word "boys" is the plural form, meaning more than one. When you look up a noun in an English dictionary, you'll usually find its singular form.

Showing Ownership (Genitive Case)

Another way English words change is to show who owns something. This is called the genitive case.

• If a toy belongs to one boy, we say it's the boy's toy. We add an apostrophe and an "s".
• If the toy belongs to two or more boys, we say it's the boys' toy. We add an apostrophe after the "s".

This change helps us understand that the boy (or boys) owns the toy. The "case" of a word tells us its role in the sentence.

Why is Declension Important?

Declension helps make sentences clear. Without it, we might not know if we're talking about one thing or many, or who is doing what.

In languages like Latin, German, or Russian, declension is a huge part of the grammar. Words change their endings a lot more than in English. This means the order of words in a sentence can be more flexible, because the endings tell you what's going on.

For example, in a language with strong declension, the word for "dog" might change its ending depending on whether the dog is chasing something, or being chased, or if something belongs to the dog. It's like each word carries its own little instruction manual!

See also

In Spanish: Declinación (gramática) para niños