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When I ask anyone his contact details, how do I do it?

Give me your contact details.

or

Give me your contact detail.

?

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You could avoid this entirely by asking for their contact information, which is more commonly heard. – cornbread ninja 麵包忍者 Jul 3 '12 at 15:23
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3 Answers

up vote 1 down vote accepted

You should say contact details. The reason is that a person could have more than one contact details, e.g, phone number, email address, Facebook account, etc. That's why you can't use contact detail, which refers to a single item.

You might be wondering what if you wanted to ask for a phone number or email address, wouldn't it be possible to use contact detail? The answer is no, because it becomes ambiguous and it's better to mention the name of that contact detail, e.g, can I have your phone number?

Finally, you can use contact detail not contact details as a modifier for other words, e.g, contact detail pages.

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up vote 1 down vote

When you ask someone their contact details, you obviously ask them for their contact details:

Give me your contact details.

A please wouldn't harm either :)

Could I please have your contact details?

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Sorry! My question was whether I could say detail instead of details. – Tabrez Ahmed Jul 3 '12 at 14:19
@TabrezAhmed: Didn't I answer that? – Armen Ծիրունյան Jul 3 '12 at 14:20
Sorry if i've misunderstood. But if I say contact detail will it be wrong ? – Tabrez Ahmed Jul 3 '12 at 14:26
@TabrezAhmed: If you want a specific contact detail, i.e. phone number, you should ask for the phone number, not "the contact detail" or "a contact detail". I don't really understand what you're asking – Armen Ծիրունյան Jul 3 '12 at 14:28
up vote 1 down vote

Armen's response is correct, but I would add that it is more common to ask for contact information, rather than contact details.

What is your contact information?

Or simpler still, to ask for the specific contact information you are seeking (what is your email address, or what is your phone number, etc).

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Sorry! My question was whether I could say detail instead of details. – Tabrez Ahmed Jul 3 '12 at 14:19
In that respect, Armens response is correct. 'Detail' is not acceptable, 'details' is. – n00b Jul 3 '12 at 14:22

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