Tell me more ×
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

Which is the correct use of plurality in the following sentence:

This field is approached from the domain of Investment Theory, Optimization and Machine Learning.

or

This field is approached from the domains of Investment Theory, Optimization and Machine Learning.

Note that these are each one "domain":

  1. Investment Theory
  2. Optimization
  3. Machine Learning
share|improve this question
   
First one is grammatically correct. – JFW Jun 7 '12 at 16:01
2  
General Reference. Domain is a regular noun, with a regular plural. – FumbleFingers Jun 7 '12 at 16:03
4  
@JFW: It refers to more than one domain, doesn't it? So wouldn't the second one be correct? – Mitch Jun 7 '12 at 16:35
1  
I agree with Mitch, the second one is the one I would choose. Also, this is a great example arguing for the serial or Oxford comma. I would love to see a comma after Optimization. – JLG Jun 7 '12 at 16:39
To me it seems like "... domain of a, b and c" is a shorthand for "... domain of a, domain of b and domain of c". While my colleague says it should be "domains of a, b and c" because "domains" is referring to multiple things (a, b and c). – André Christoffer Andersen Jun 7 '12 at 16:50
show 1 more comment

closed as general reference by FumbleFingers, tchrist, Mitch, Jasper Loy, Andrew Leach Jun 7 '12 at 18:32

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.

Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.