Editing Dual (grammatical number) (section)

===Sanskrit===
{{Main|Sanskrit grammar}}

The dual is widely used in Sanskrit, as noted above. Its use is mandatory when the number of objects is two, and the plural is not permitted in this case, with one exception (see below). It is always indicated by the declensional suffix (and some morphophonemic modifications to the root resulting from addition of the suffix).

For nouns, the dual forms are the same in the following sets of cases, with examples for the masculine noun  {{IAST|bāla}} (boy):
* nominative/accusative: bālau
* instrumental/dative/ablative: bālābhyām
* genitive/locative: bālayoḥ

In Sanskrit, adjectives are treated the same as nouns as far as case declensions are concerned. As for pronouns, the same rules apply, except for a few special forms used in some cases.

Verbs have distinct dual forms in the three persons in both the ātmanepada and parasmaipada forms of verbs. For instance, the root pac meaning "to cook", takes the following forms in the dual number of the present tense, called laṭ lakāra:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Person !! Parasmaipada !! Ātmanepada
|-
| 3rd (prathama) || pacataḥ || pacete
|-
| 2nd (madhyama) || pacathaḥ || pacethe
|-
| 1st (uttama) || pacāvaḥ || pacāvahe
|}
(In Sanskrit, the order of the persons is reversed.)

The one exception to the rigidness about dual number is in the case of the pronoun asmad (I/we): Sanskrit grammar permits one to use the plural number for asmad even if the actual number of objects denoted is one or two (this is similar to the "royal we"). For example, while ''ahaṃ bravīmi'', ''āvāṃ brūvaḥ'' and ''vayaṃ brūmaḥ'' are respectively the singular, dual and plural forms of "I say" and "we say", ''vayaṃ brūmaḥ'' can be used in the singular and dual sense as well.