This tag applies to questions that deal with grammatical number: “singular” versus “plural”, and (rarely) also “dual”.
9
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5answers
1k views
What is the preferred plural form of “bus”?
The OED states that both "buses" and "busses" are acceptable plural forms of "bus". Is one generally preferred over the other?
9
votes
4answers
648 views
Can I use the word “milks” when discussing KINDS of milk
Heard at the cafe: "We have three milks: soy, almond, and cow."
Is it ok to use the word "milks" in this context? I've heard it in other uncountable nouns, like "essential oils", or "simple sugars", ...
9
votes
6answers
1k views
Does the word 'God' with a capital G have a plural form?
Does the word 'God' with a capital G have a plural form?
9
votes
4answers
6k views
When traveling abroad, are you “oversea” or “overseas”?
I live in Singapore and I will be travelling to Jakarta.
Should I say "I will be oversea next week." or "I will be overseas next week."?
Looking at Google Maps, it looks like there are two seas ...
9
votes
4answers
782 views
Is there a good rule of thumb for plurals from words ending in “o”?
The following words and their plurals seem to be somewhat inconsistent:
combo / combos
concerto / concertos
grotto / grottos / grottoes (?)
hero / heros (?) / heroes
potato / potatos (?) / potatoes
...
9
votes
3answers
5k views
9
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4answers
3k views
Is “stuff ” a plural word? [closed]
I'm wondering which one of these expressions is correct?
This stuff or these stuff?
9
votes
4answers
4k views
Correct usage of “persons” (vs. “people”)
I had a little fight about persons vs. people.
Could you advise if both of the following are correct, if possible with reference to a dictionary?
A table for two people please.
A table for ...
9
votes
1answer
366 views
'phenomena' as singular: usage
We know phenomena is a plural whose singular form is phenomenon. However, I have seen frequent of use of phenomena itself as singular, as in 'this is a phenomena ...', 'this phenomena is ...', etc.
...
9
votes
3answers
530 views
How to deal with irregular plural(s)?
What happens if you have a written phrase like
We were looking at the same poster(s).
but with a noun that has an irregular plural? E.g. with baby/babies, would this be the correct form?
We ...
9
votes
4answers
2k views
Can “cattle” be singular?
I've grown up on a farm, and my dad and his dad, apparently, always used "cattle" to refer to both the singular and plural forms of the domestic bovine. I've always assumed it's how the word "deer" ...
9
votes
3answers
1k views
Collective nouns and subject-verb agreement: general rule or arbitrary?
A newspaper ran this headline recently:
(1) Police crack down on IAC protesters. [emph added]
Why did it not read:
(2) ? Police cracks down on IAC protesters.
I have found instances of ...
9
votes
4answers
2k views
Why are the words hundred, thousand, million, and trillion singular after plural numbers?
Can anyone give a grammatical explanation why the words hundred, thousand, million, and trillion are singular after plural numbers?
For example, why can't we say three hundreds or 4 thousands or ...
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.
...
8
votes
5answers
556 views
Plurals of “infimum” and “supremum”
The words infimum and supremum are technical terms in mathematics. Should their plurals be infima and suprema or infimums and supremums?
8
votes
4answers
10k views
What is the plural of “scenario”?
What is the plural of "scenario"? I have always used "scenarios", but have recently come across "scenaria" and "scenarii". Should I be treating it as an Italian or Latin word?
8
votes
7answers
4k views
Is “a wide range of features” singular or plural?
In the office, we've been having a discussion about the grammar in a sentence and have differing opinions about what is right and what is wrong... It is a very minor issue but is still bugging me :)
...
8
votes
4answers
1k views
“Neither Michael nor Albert is correct” or “Neither Michael nor Albert are correct”?
What is the correct sentence?
Neither Michael nor Albert is correct.
Neither Michael nor Albert are correct.
8
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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 ...
8
votes
5answers
834 views
“My last couple of years” — singular or plural?
Should I use "wasn't" or "weren't" in the following sentence?
My last couple of years as an Edison Eagle wasn’t all about fighting
and bad friendships.
8
votes
6answers
1k views
Is the word “data” now considered singular, or still plural?
I know that the singular of data is datum. I know that data is a plural.
However, common usage of the word "data" suggests it is used as a "collection of data".
Here is [the collection of] data.
...
8
votes
4answers
3k views
Does “whereabouts” function as a singular or plural noun?
His whereabouts is unknown
vs
His whereabouts are unknown
Which is correct, or is this simply a matter of preference?
8
votes
5answers
1k views
Adjective pluralization
A 16-year-old girl.
She is 16 years old.
I've read somewhere that the reason the year in the first example is singular is that it functions as an adjective, and adjectives can't be ...
8
votes
4answers
443 views
Election or Elections?
I'm a little confused about when I should be using the singular form of election, and when I should be using the plural form.
Did he win the election or win the elections?
Did I vote in the election ...
8
votes
3answers
3k views
“Are either of you free?”
In the process of writing to two people I typed: "Are either of you free?" and was immediately called out by my grammar checker which suggested I should write: "Is either of you free?"
The second of ...
8
votes
1answer
2k views
Is “public” plural or singular?
I wonder if the word "public" is plural or singular. Does anybody know?
8
votes
4answers
15k views
Which is correct: “one or more is” or “one or more are”?
Should the phrase be "one or more is...", or "one or more are..."?
8
votes
3answers
292 views
What is the proper plural of “reputation”?
Vote Down requires 125 reputation
Shouldn't it be "reputations"? Why or why not?
8
votes
3answers
10k views
Is “details” singular?
Which one of the following sentences is correct?
Here is the details you requested.
Here are the details you requested.
Having googled "Here is the details" and "Here are the details", ...
8
votes
2answers
434 views
Usage of English definite article when referring to generic word
My mother language does not have articles, so I still struggle to choose when to use the indefinte and definite article. The other day, I learned:
"The dog is an animal" is acceptable.
"The iron is ...
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 ...
8
votes
2answers
698 views
Is “ ’s ” ever correct for pluralization?
A relatively modern dictionary (I don’t know which one, because we’ve cut out the pages and used them as wallpaper in our bathroom, but I know it’s less than 20 years old) indicates that R’s is one ...
8
votes
6answers
2k views
“Without reason” or “Without reasons”?
Do we say "Without reason" or "Without reasons"?
(e.g. She started laughing without (apparent) reason(s).).
Is "reason" countable or not?
Can we ever use a plural noun after "without".
8
votes
3answers
3k views
Which is correct: “There are not any employees” vs. “there is not any employee”
Sometimes I see two variants of following sentence:
"there are not any employees" in the department
"there is not any employee" in the department
What is the correct sentence?
8
votes
2answers
872 views
What is the plural of proof of concept? Is it proofs of concept, proof of concepts or proofs of concepts? [closed]
Can someone please clarify what is the plural form of proof of concept? Is it proofs of concept, proof of concepts or proofs of concepts?
8
votes
3answers
1k views
Why do we use the plural “heads” and “tails” when describing sides of a coin?
Head or tail sound fine to my ESL ears. What's the reasoning behind the plural usage? I looked it up on etymonline but didn't find anything interesting.
8
votes
1answer
2k views
When should a singular word ending in “y” end in “ies” plurally?
Words like "sky" and "money" have "ies" as a plural suffix (i.e. "skies" and "monies") but other words like "monkey" and "Emmy" do not ("monkeys" and "Emmys"). Is there a rule dictating the use of ...
8
votes
1answer
1k views
There is/are one or several apple/~s?
To be clear, among
There is one or several apple.
There are one or several apple.
There is one or several apples.
There are one or several apples.
which is correct?
My guess:
...
8
votes
3answers
177 views
The rise of “all of the”
In the following graph, the long s accounts for the sudden rise in frequency of most of the; if you search for moft of the, the lines match up nicely. But what would be behind the sudden increase in ...
7
votes
9answers
2k views
What is the plural of Prius?
Don’t hate me for asking, but What would be the correct plural of Prius, and why?
A Latin professor would say Prium’s the best...
7
votes
8answers
359 views
“flavorx” v.s. “flavors”
I wrote something about the food. And I use flavors for plural flavor, however my foreign English teacher corrected it as flavorx. And he considers that I also should read 'flavors'.
I googled the ...
7
votes
3answers
586 views
The computer has 48GB memory (or memories?)
What's the correct form? If both are correct, what's the difference?
7
votes
4answers
713 views
How do I pluralize “horsepower?”
Should I say that an engine can output 552 horsepower or 552 horsepowers? I've heard people use both.
If it is just "horsepower", what is the justification for the nonstandard pluralization?
7
votes
8answers
4k views
7
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3answers
728 views
Are two or more clusters of ivy considered “ivy” or “ivies”?
When referring to two or more clusters of ivy,
is it ivy, ivies, or something else entirely?
7
votes
3answers
339 views
What is the plural form of trademarked product names, specifically of the term “WordPress”?
On the stackexchange site WordPress Answers, we recently discussed the plural form, or whether one exists at all, of the system we all use.
WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and a ...
7
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2answers
407 views
7
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7answers
3k views
Apostrophes and caps in Happy Mother’s Day / Happy Mothers’ Day
So, I’m writing this as it is Mother’s (or maybe Mothers’) Day today, and I was wondering what would be a correct way to write that.
Should the apostrophe come be between the r and the s, or after ...
7
votes
3answers
15k views
“How's things?” or “How are things?”
In a short interview where people were introducing themselves I saw something that grammatically sounds erroneous. Is the use of How's things instead of How're things a kind of expression or a simple ...
7
votes
4answers
400 views
Pluralizing keywords in programming languages [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Marking plural of code words
In the language that I'm currently working in one of the keywords is try. I'm writing an error message:
No implementation for global ...
