Nouns After Numbers

Feminine nouns with ordinary plurals in -o have counting forms in -ood. Other nouns use singular-shaped counting forms. Feminine nouns with plurals in -ooyin therefore retain their singular shape.

Compare bisado, “cats,” with shan bisadood, “five cats,” and hooyooyin, “mothers,” with saddex hooyo, “three mothers.” Buug remains singular-shaped in afar buug, “four books.”

Attach definiteness, possession, and demonstrative material to the numeral: afartaas buug, “those four books.” The following counting noun receives no additional determiner suffix; in particular, no further ending follows counting -ood. Collective and mass nouns need additional constructions. Some counted collections take ah, while measures or unit nouns identify quantities of substances. Counting forms alone do not cover every noun type.