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I would like to know if in the following sentence, special should be plural or not.

The red apples are not special.

I do not feel that this is correct.

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Hello and welcome. This question is too basic for this site. You might be interested in our proposed sister site for English language learners. You can support it by committing. Thank you. – RegDwighт♦ Jan 1 at 20:00
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Would it similarly bother you if someone said that the special apples were not red? Would you want them to be reds instead? – tchrist Jan 1 at 20:05
Hello @RegDwighт I understand and thank you for provide me this information... – raulricardo21 Jan 2 at 2:30

closed as general reference by MετάEd, tchrist, FumbleFingers, cornbread ninja 麵包忍者, Kris Jan 2 at 7:56

This question is too basic; it can be definitively and permanently answered by a single link to a standard internet reference source designed specifically to find that type of information. See the FAQ for guidance on how to improve it.

2 Answers

up vote 8 down vote accepted

Adjectives in English are not inflected for number. Special describing a single object remains special when applied to more than one.

The red apples are not special.
The special apples are not red.
The English apples are tasty.

None of the adjectives, red, special, English or tasty, differ from a "singular" form.

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Well, apart from the four demonstrative determiners (this, these, that, those), which some folks (rather dubiously) call adjectives. – tchrist Jan 1 at 19:28
Thank you @Andrew Leach – raulricardo21 Jan 2 at 2:32
up vote 7 down vote

In English, plural adjectives are not written differently:

  • One apple is special.
  • Two apples are special.

If you put an "s" at the end of special, then you're treating it like a noun:

  • I watched a special last night on holiday traditions.
  • I watched two specials last night, one after the other.
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Thanks @Tylerl the second note is very interesting – raulricardo21 Jan 2 at 2:33

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