Stylistics of the plural suffix

The plural suffix -lar usually shows more than one: kitoblar (books), o‘quvchilar (pupils). Adding it when an exact quantity is given is a stylistic mistake: the correct form is yettita daftar (“seven notebooks”), not yettita daftarlar. In styles other than the scientific and (partly) the official, -lar also expresses additional meanings. Respect: Ustozim aytdilar (“My teacher said”, respectful). Irony: Katta olim kelibdilar-da! (“So the great scholar has come!”). Intensification: Bayram kuni ko‘chalar shodliklarga to‘ldi (“On the holiday the streets filled with joys”). Generalisation: Alisherlar ham shu maktabda o‘qigan (“People like Alisher also studied at this school”). Approximation: soat to‘rtlarda (“around four o’clock”), qirq yoshlarda (“around forty”). In the scientific style -lar mostly expresses only grammatical plural, so such figurative meanings are avoided in a scientific text.