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I would like to warn my customers that names can be duplicate. How do I put it in words? In MS Word when I entered Name can be duplicate., it draws a green line under duplicate. Whats my mistake?

Update: Say I have two products in my store with same name. I don’t want my customers to be confused when they see two different products with same name. If I have to warn them with a written notice, how should I write that?

For now, I wrote it as, “Multiple products with same name can exist at a time.” But I don’t understand why my initial statement was wrong.

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What do you mean, names can be duplicate? – simchona♦ Aug 2 '12 at 0:39
Two people can have the same name? 'Please give both your given name and family name'? what are you getting at? – Mitch Aug 2 '12 at 0:42
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Your mistake comes from using Microsoft instead of vi, obviously. I promise that if you upgrade, the green line will go away. – tchrist Aug 2 '12 at 0:43
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I think you are looking for "names are not unique". I think. Why MS Word puts a green line there, I can't possibly know. Perhaps it considers duplicate without an article an adjective, awaiting a noun to follow. – RegDwighт♦ Aug 2 '12 at 0:50
Updated the question. If its not name, it can be something else that can be duplicate. How would I form a statement with placeholder for that duplicate thing. – Alexander Aug 2 '12 at 0:51
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closed as general reference by tchrist, simchona♦, Mahnax, Shyam, JSBձոգչ Aug 2 '12 at 12:17

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3 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

"Duplicate" can be a noun or a verb. So, for example, both "Name can be a duplicate," or "names can be duplicated," make sense.

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Name can be a duplicate seems right to Word. – Alexander Aug 2 '12 at 21:38
up vote 3 down vote

You either mean to say, "Names can be duplicated" or "Duplicate names are a possibility" or "(Any of the) names may be a duplicate". Better still, as RegDwight said, "Names may not be unique."

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up vote 0 down vote

Clearly Microsoft Word does not know that duplicate is an adjective (as well as a verb and a noun). The OED says:

duplicate, adj.  1. Double, twofold, consisting of two corresponding parts; that is made or exists in two corresponding examples.  2. Double, doubled; consisting of twice the number or quantity.  3. That is the exact counterpart or ‘double’ of something already in existence.

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