This tag applies to questions that deal with grammatical number: “singular” versus “plural”, and (rarely) also “dual”.
22
votes
8answers
11k views
Are collective nouns always plural, or are certain ones singular?
I'd say Microsoft have a way of bending the rules and I know that McLaren have won the championship. While this sounds strange, I believe it is correct English (sorry, I'm not native).
But when it's ...
79
votes
9answers
4k views
What is the correct way to pluralize an acronym?
For example, if I wanted to write the equivalent of
There are many automated teller machines in this city.
Would it be
There are many ATMs in this city.
or
There are many ATM's in ...
16
votes
2answers
2k views
Pluralization rule for “five-year-old children”, “20 pound note”, “10 mile run”
Why are year, pound and mile in the singular form in the phrases below?
five-year-old children
20 pound note
10 mile run
Is that because they're acting as adjectives, which are always invariable ...
10
votes
4answers
557 views
“User accounts” or “users account”
Is it correct to say user accounts or users account when referring to the accounts any user has on a site like this one?
In general, in the case of a noun that is used as adjective for the noun that ...
6
votes
2answers
1k views
Singular or plural following a list
Can anyone tell me if I should use inspire or inspires in this phrase?
An extraordinary leader whose vision, values, integrity and boundless curiosity inspires all who follow in his footsteps.
14
votes
4answers
6k views
Is “staff” plural?
Which one of these two statements is correct?
Our staff do ...
Our staff does ...
Is staffs correct?
16
votes
7answers
4k views
Should we use plural or singular for a fraction of a mile?
I have seen people say both 0.25 mile and 0.25 miles. Should we use plural or singular for a fraction of a mile?
20
votes
2answers
9k views
A number of questions “has been” or “have been” asked?
Formally, is it correct to write:
A number of questions has been asked here.
or:
A number of questions have been asked here.
As a non-native speaker of English, I would prefer the former: ...
11
votes
6answers
1k views
“None” as plural indefinite pronoun
In my grammar book (English Grammar, HarperCollins Publishers), I read that none is occasionally treated as plural, but it is usually regarded as singular. Can you give me an example of sentence where ...
36
votes
5answers
2k views
Is “data” considered singular or plural?
Related to this question and this question.
My non-native English speaking friend just asked me:
Data is ...
or
Data are ...
I said both but that's because I've been desensitized from ...
21
votes
5answers
743 views
Words that are pluralized in the middle?
This is purely a curiosity, but I'm fascinated by mid-word pluralization, even if the word in question is a compound word.
For example, passersby or standersby.
No others have occurred to me. Can ...
11
votes
4answers
6k views
There are no comments / There is no comment
Which is correct?
* "There are no comments."
* "There is no comment."
Which would you use for a web application, i.e. what to display when a blog post or an article has no comment attached?
...
15
votes
5answers
835 views
Which style of Latin plurals should I use?
Many Latin words in English have both Latin-style plurals and English-style plurals:
referendum – referendums, referenda.
minimum – minimums, minima.
gymnasium – gymnasiums, gymnasia.
...
7
votes
3answers
2k views
What is the proper way to write the plural of a single letter? (another apostrophe question)
When writing (a blog post, script, etc..) what is the proper way to indicate two or more instances of a single letter? For instance, in Monty Python's Bookshop Sketch:
C: I wonder if you might ...
4
votes
2answers
496 views
“On their back” or “on their backs”?
After the therapy, eight children (43%) became able to crawl/move on their back.
Or should I use "on their backs"?
Singular because each child only has one back, or plural because we're dealing ...
21
votes
7answers
6k views
Plurals of acronyms, letters, numbers — use an apostrophe or not?
When I was in high school back in the 1970s, I was taught that to make a plural of an acronym, a letter, or a number, one should add an apostrophe and "s". Like I would have written this sentence, ...
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.
17
votes
3answers
733 views
“Those who qualify will be awarded a certificate” or “those who qualify will be awarded certificates”?
All my life, I have been confused with choosing plural or singular form to represent one-one correspondence notion.
Only those who qualify will be awarded a certificate.
or
Only those who ...
12
votes
5answers
19k 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 ...
5
votes
2answers
758 views
Correct plural form of a zero quantified noun
When using zero as a quantifier, is it correct to use the singular form on the object of the quantifier, or the plural form?
It sounds confusing when I put it that way, but what I mean is: Which is ...
15
votes
3answers
2k views
Person, Persons, People, Peoples
Can you please clarify the relation and differences between these nouns?
For example, is it proper to use "persons" instead of "people"? Are they the same? As I believe that "people" is plural, how ...
12
votes
2answers
785 views
How to indicate possession by e.g. passers-by, mothers-in-law
I'm quite fond of internal pluralisation, such as passers-by, mothers-in-law, or even Chambers of Commerce.
However, I've recently realised that I've no idea how to indicate possession in such a ...
17
votes
6answers
23k views
Which is correct, “neither is” or “neither are”?
Bob: "Can I set the font color? Can I customize the text?"
Frank: "Neither of these options is available. Sorry!"
Is "neither is" always correct or should one use "neither are" in some cases and ...
15
votes
4answers
2k views
Types of things vs. types of thing
When speaking precisely or technically, one would say that "Homo erectus and homo sapiens are two species of hominid" rather than "Homo erectus and homo sapiens are two species of hominids." The ...
16
votes
3answers
1k views
Apostrophe in “beginners guide”
In the phrase beginners guide to …, where should the apostrophe go?
Beginner’s Guide to […]
Beginners’ Guide to […]
In my particular case, this is the title for a presentation so there are ...
3
votes
2answers
528 views
Irregular plurality situations in English
Why do some nouns in English not take the plurality suffix in the plural form? Could you give me a list of plural nouns which don't take "-(e)s" suffix? For example, I know about "fish" and "sheep".
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.
...
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 ...
1
vote
1answer
112 views
should a list of tokens be called a “token list” or a “tokens list” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“User accounts” or “users account?”
I ask because a list of tasks would usually be called a "task list". However a list or previous winners of a ...
45
votes
8answers
4k views
Is -1 singular or plural?
Do we say "-1 thing" or "-1 things"?
Edit: I am interested in both of these cases: "two things minus one thing(s)" and the quantity "minus/negative one thing(s)."
Bounty: While there are some good ...
13
votes
2answers
720 views
Family name pluralization
When pluralizing family (last) names that also happen to be common English words, does the pluralization follow the same rules as the common word?
For example, "the Smith family" can be pluralized as ...
7
votes
3answers
2k views
When a sentence uses an optional plural, should the rest of the sentence treat it as singular or plural?
Consider the following sentence:
We assume that the individual(s) possesses some general knowledge of the rules of football.
Is "possesses" correct there? Should it be "possess"? Is the rule ...
4
votes
3answers
3k views
“A number of students” vs. “the number of students” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
A number of questions “has been” or “have been” asked?
From the grammatical view both are correct, but please explain the difference in meaning:
...
6
votes
3answers
8k views
“A total of 10 babies is…” vs. “a total of 10 babies are…” vs. “Ten babies in total are…”
Which one is the correct one?
A total of 10 babies is sleeping. (A)
A total of 10 babies are sleeping. (B)
Ten babies in total are sleeping. (C)
For me, both (A) and (C) are correct. ...
25
votes
6answers
1k views
7
votes
2answers
508 views
Was the usage “Spaghetti were” ever acceptable or common?
In W. Somerset Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence, there is a line about Dirk Stroeve which goes His spaghetti were …. Spaghetti is plural in Italian, but is this ever a normal usage in English? ...
5
votes
4answers
2k views
“A lot of ideas” is or are?
My boyfriend and I are arguing about whether the phrase "a lot of ideas" should be followed with is or are. I say that it should be is because the verb is linking to a lot, not ideas. If it were "lots ...
2
votes
0answers
255 views
Is the usage of “are” correct when referring to a team/group/band? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is staff plural?
It always sounds wrong to me when people refer to a a proper team/group/band/etc in plural form, e.g.:
Nirvana are the creators of grunge.
The ...
14
votes
8answers
8k views
“There is/are more than one”. What's the difference?
While adding to an Answer to this question, I needed to use the above phrase, and I suddenly realised I was unsure whether to write "is" or "are".
There is more than one way to skin a cat.
If there ...
7
votes
2answers
1k views
What is the difference between a “singular noun” and a “plural noun treated as singular”?
I'd always thought that words like "physics" and "mathematics" were singular: after all, we say "physics is the study of…" etc. But apparently, according to the comments on this question about "news", ...
14
votes
2answers
519 views
Why don't we use the indefinite article with 'software'?
Generally, one doesn't use the indefinite article with a noun because it's plural, but sometimes you get nouns where, for some reason, the indefinite article isn't used even though the noun is ...
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 :)
...
6
votes
3answers
4k views
Is “a total of 10 payments” singular or plural?
A total of 10 payments were made.
OR
A total of 10 payments was made.
Which is correct? Or can both be correct?
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..."?
4
votes
3answers
820 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 ...
2
votes
2answers
210 views
User’s/Users’/Users Group [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“User's guide” vs. “users' guide”
If referring to a Users Group (meaning a group made up of multiple individual users who have some ...
18
votes
2answers
518 views
Marking plural of code words
In my blog (which is about programming) I often use reserved words from different programming languages.
Like this:
When column is nullable in both tables, this query won't return a match of two ...
36
votes
7answers
2k views
Was “book” to “beek” as “foot” is to “feet”?
"Foot" is a curious word in English because it is pluralized in an unusual way; the "oo" in the word is changed to "ee". Did this once use to be a standard way of pluralizing things in English (or a ...
14
votes
2answers
988 views
“People” or “peoples” when referring to an indigenous population?
Let's say we are talking about the indigenous pukapuka who live in Pluto.
What is correct: "the pukapuka people" or "the pukapuka peoples"?
I've read somewhere the usage of "peoples" in this ...
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 ...
