Appendix:Middle English declension
While nouns in Old English declined regularly, Middle English saw a rapid disintegration of noun declension. Two declensional patterns can be observed. These patterns are contingent on whether the noun's nominative singular does or does not end in a weak e. A connection appears between the Old English forms of strong masculine o (a)-stems. This can be observed in the commonality between Middle English plural -es and the Old English -as. The endings of these two forms of declension are as follows: