FIELDNOTES / PATTERNS IN NUMBER

One number.
Different grammar.

A language’s plural categories are grammatical labels, not simple quantity ranges. Spend four probes to study an undisclosed rule, then predict six new cases.

Probe → compare → predict. The rule is one of the six reference cards below. You need not name it: your goal is six correct predictions. Choose revealing probes such as 0, 2, 11, 21 or 1.0. Written decimal zeros matter.

Notebook

Number to probe

RULE IDENTITY SEALED?

Probe the rule and compare the notebook below. No random outcomes: a written number always receives the same category.

Your six predictions

The test panel is visible before probing. A perfect proof completes the notebook. If it fails, compare the revealed rule and correct your answers; the assisted result is marked.

Reference notebook

All six possibilities are shown. These compact rules apply to the nonnegative numbers used here, below 1,000. “Whole spelling” means no decimal point.