Tagged Questions
2
votes
2answers
183 views
Not only X but also Y are (is?)
At first glance, sentence 1 below seems more correct because there are two subjects. However, something seems more natural about sentence 2. Maybe there is something abbreviated, elliptical, or ...
-1
votes
1answer
53 views
How to use “and” “is” “are” with locations [closed]
I am confused with how to use "is" and "are" with locations.
Which is correct?
a)Library and lecture room is crowded.
b)Library and Lecture room are crowded.
-1
votes
1answer
251 views
Apostrophes and s's [duplicate]
I always forget the rule about if something is possessive put 's at the end, for example "the sailor's hat". I know some people say to remember because it has a different meaning if it's plural (e.g. ...
0
votes
2answers
61 views
should i say the attached has 6 files or the attached have 6 files? [closed]
I have two question for the following sentence:
"the attached document has 6 files ,if none of them suited what you are looking for let me know. "
Q1: should i say the attached has 6 files or the ...
8
votes
5answers
1k views
Is “et al.” used as a singular or plural subject?
When referring to multiple authors by using the name of the first author and "et al.", is it correct to grammatically treat this as one person or multiple persons?
Gamma et al. are saying in their ...
2
votes
1answer
184 views
Why do we need an indefinite article in the sentence “The price is **an incredible 50,000 dollars**”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
‘A[n] * [number] [plural]’ Construction
Why do we need an indefinite article in the sentence "The price is an incredible 50,000 dollars"? "An" is singular, "dollars" is ...
-2
votes
3answers
493 views
Most is vs most are [closed]
Which of these two is correct?
Most company is private
Most companies are private
In general, should most be used with a singular or plural noun? And will the verb "be" be plural or singular?
0
votes
0answers
218 views
Use of the word must in a sentence [closed]
I have these two sentences.
There exists an integer k such that...
There must exist an integer k such that...
I feel that both of these sentences are grammatically correct, but I'm not sure ...
5
votes
1answer
350 views
plural noun/singular verb and vice versa [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
None as plural indefinite pronoun
In my work I am often exposed to sentences written by nonnative speakers of English.
I often come across sentences with a singular noun ...
-2
votes
2answers
582 views
“Employee list” or “employees list” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
User’s Guide vs Users’ Guide
should a list of tokens be called a “token list” or a “tokens list”
I know we can use list of employees, but I'd ...
0
votes
0answers
53 views
How do I express possession of an item owned by enumerated groups of several individuals? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“Nikki's and Alice's X” vs. “Nikki and Alice's X”
Preferred way to apostrophise in case of dual or multiple ownership by distinct ...
4
votes
2answers
11k views
When to use “lives” as a plural of life?
I am confused when talking about a general idea using "our life" when sometimes I feel like using "our lives". Please tell me the correct answer with appropriate explanation.
1
vote
3answers
5k views
My family *is* or My family *are*? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Are collective nouns always plural, or are certain ones singular?
Which is correct: The rest of the staff is or are? The rest of my family is or are?
I've done a bit ...
0
votes
2answers
146 views
Destroy or Destroys [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is a company always plural, or are small companies singular?
I came across a mocked up newspaper article earlier and there was a discussion about whether the following ...
6
votes
4answers
288 views
Pluralization of Germanisms
The German noun "Ansatz" is widely used (at least) in physics and, less frequently, in math texts in English. I have seen it always in singular though and now I must use its (English) plural. The ...
1
vote
2answers
330 views
“A lot of people, especially this one psychoanalyst […], keeps asking”
In the last chapter of The Catcher in The Rye:
A lot of people, especially this one psychoanalyst guy they have here,
keeps asking me if I'm going apply myself when I go back to school
next ...
17
votes
5answers
1k views
How do I pluralize a name ending in “y”?
Frequently when I refer to or address a family, I do so by pluralizing their last name, e.g., The Smiths, or The Ramones. But suppose I want to address a family whose last name ends in a "y", e.g., ...
6
votes
13answers
2k views
Plural of “advice”
The dictionary says that advice can only be used in the singular. But in a specific part of computer science (aspect-oriented programming) this word is used to reference some object that implements ...
3
votes
3answers
2k views
Why “go to the movies” and not “go to a movie”
Why do we use Do you ever go to the movies? and not Do you ever go to a movie? Is the latter also correct?
1
vote
0answers
210 views
Is grammatical number dying out in English? [closed]
It seems to me that grammatical number in English is gradually disappearing.
Some symptoms:
no singular 2nd person pronounce, the "you" becomes limited to one person while "yall" develops for ...
0
votes
1answer
3k views
'Simple things make me happy.' Or is it 'makes me'? [closed]
I know that 'simple things make me happy.' is correct.
Then I read this sentence in a novel: 'simple things makes me happy.'
Where actually, it doesn't sound wrong, but I don't know about the ...
3
votes
0answers
78 views
How to use “my” correctly in a plural possessive? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is “my wife and I's” correct, or should it be “my wife's and my”?
Are the following sentences grammatically correct? If not, how should I ...
2
votes
5answers
539 views
“A classmate and I was” vs “A classmate and I were”
I'm writing a resume right now targeted towards a specific company. My girlfriend (a classmate) and I were (see, I don't know if that's the right word, hence this question!) the first from our school ...
2
votes
2answers
11k views
Is “group” singular or plural? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is a company always plural, or are small companies singular?
When I'm referring to a group of multiple things, should it be considered singular or plural for the ...
-3
votes
4answers
172 views
Number that should be used here
Ok, this question came from another question, in which my answer has a "problem".
In this question, three conditions were given. In my answer to this question, I stated:
You have listed a very ...
2
votes
1answer
586 views
“Compound nouns list” or “compound noun list”?
I couldn't help but wonder every time I saw such a noun phrase. I've seen both forms used equally often, so I guess both of them can be used interchangeably. But do I guess right?
Some examples:
...
32
votes
8answers
2k views
Why is there no plural indefinite article?
The takes either a singular or a plural subject. A/an only takes the singular.
When we pluralize a noun preceded by an indefinite article, we simply drop the article (sometimes replacing it with ...
2
votes
2answers
4k views
“Is there” versus “Are there”
Are there any questions I should be asking?
Is there any articles available on the subject?
My instinct is that in the two questions above, it should be 'are' as the subjects of the sentences ...
2
votes
3answers
7k views
“Types of” followed by singular or plural? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Types of things vs. types of thing
When using the phrase "types of" or "kinds of," it often seems appropriate to follow with a singular noun (e.g., types of rock), but ...
3
votes
1answer
330 views
Quantity for abbreviations of plural terms
I have two questions which I think are so closely related that they should be grouped together.
Quantity for an abbreviation that stands for a plural
Context: The author is trying to explain what ...
1
vote
1answer
266 views
Should I use the singular or plural here?
The following two phrases MS Word marks as wrong, whereas I think they are correct; but I would like feedback to be sure.
Microsoft and Cisco are both designing ...
MS Word suggests changing ...
3
votes
4answers
1k views
Which one is correct: “1yr” or “1yr.” or “1 yr”?
I need to put one of the above on one of my app's buttons.
Bonus question - does the same rule hold in plural? That is if I write "1 yr.", do I write "15 yrs." as well?
17
votes
2answers
830 views
Plurality of numbers between -1 and 1
If I recall correctly, the Académie française states that, for French, quantities comprised within [-1,1] are singular, and anything else is plural. This means, for instance, that we should say (in ...
5
votes
4answers
2k views
“Nobody want to go there,” or “nobody wants to go there”?
In English, the number 0 is treated as plural. It is then:
0 seconds
1 second
1.2 seconds
2 seconds
Shouldn't it be "nobody want to go there," instead of "nobody wants to go there"?
I also ...
11
votes
2answers
679 views
Is 'couple' ever used in the sense of 'some'?
Is the usage of the word couple (as in, "I want to ask a couple of questions...") to mean 'some' or 'few' correct (as in, interpreting given example to mean "I want to ask a few questions")?
As a ...
2
votes
1answer
449 views
Why is the singular of “year” used in phrases like “72-year-old” and “20-year jail sentence”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Pluralization rule for “five-year-old children”, “20 pound note”, “10 mile run”
72-year-old Giselle Gilbert was taken to hospital.
...
1
vote
1answer
609 views
Why can't I say “I have a brown hair”?
Why can't I say, "I have a brown hair," to describe the colour of my hair?
0
votes
2answers
500 views
“All Things Is/Are Ephemeral”
All Things Is/Are Ephemeral
I know that are is meant to be the verb connecting the two fragments together, but why...? (Gut instinct)
4
votes
3answers
823 views
Is it: My apples and orange are/is wrong?
Simple question:
My apples and orange are wrong
or
My apples and orange is wrong
I am not a native English speaker, and I am having some trouble choosing between plural are or singular is ...
14
votes
6answers
27k views
Which is correct: “special thanks go to” or “special thanks goes to”?
what is grammatically correct:
Special thanks go to Tom...
Special thanks goes to Tom...
IMHO I'd say thanks is one of those plural nouns which implies it requires go but I'm not sure.
It's for ...
12
votes
5answers
20k views
Is “there're” (similar to “there's”) a correct contraction?
Q: "Do you have any juice?"
A: "Yes, there's some in the fridge."
Sounds perfectly fine to me, but:
Q: "Do you have any towels?"
A: "Yes, there's some in the closet."
Does not.
I asked ...
7
votes
3answers
6k views
“Criteria” versus “criterion”
I came across several forums and articles saying that criteria is plural and criterion is singular. Some gave me the impression that criterion is used to denote a set of rules.
What is the correct ...
2
votes
2answers
479 views
Conjugating verbs for nouns referring to groups of people [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is staff plural?
Frequently when reading tech articles, I see sentences like "Microsoft have released ..." or "Apple have announced ...".
This seems wrong to me because ...
4
votes
4answers
315 views
Is “Pick up those blocks” grammatically incorrect?
I had someone correct me today as I instructed my child to "pick up those blocks." This person insisted that it should just be:
Pick up those.
since "those" is already plural.
Is this person ...
5
votes
1answer
4k views
Rule on absence of the article “the” with plural nouns [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Definite article with plural nouns
I recently reviewed (as I believe, rather thoroughly) the rules of using articles in English and I do not recall any rule on absence ...
6
votes
5answers
1k views
Why does English need an article before any noun?
In my native language, we can say:
I have dog
Because I don't want to say a dog (one dog, how many dogs) or the dog (that dog, the listener don't care which dog).
8
votes
2answers
9k views
Possessive and plural of “Series”
I'm looking at the financial definition of series: a group of stocks or options that have common characteristics. Source
How would I form the possessive and plural of this term? I'm guessing it is ...
9
votes
2answers
5k views
Should I use the singular or plural verb in mathematical formulae (“Two and two make/makes four”)?
I remember somebody correcting me once when I said, "Two and two makes four", since the conjunction and would imply the use of a plural verb. They would prefer I said:
Two and two make four.
...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
Should I use a singular or plural “one” here?
Sometimes I get confused over how and when we should use plurals.
For example, should we say:
They are the only one who is capable
of doing this
Or
They are the only one who are
capable ...
6
votes
6answers
12k views
“There are so many” vs. “There is so many”
There are so many questions on this website.
There is so many questions on this website.
The former "sounds right," but the contracted form of the latter does as well:
There's so many ...
