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If I have 2 pens and I want to say all of them are green, I can say "Both of them are green" but if I have 3 pens should I use "Triple of them are green" or "All of them are green"?

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    Is that you, Dr Seuss?
    – Ed Guiness
    Commented May 11, 2011 at 10:30
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    Of note, triple compares to double, not both. "Triple of them are green" is wrong for the same reason "double of them are green" is wrong.
    – MrHen
    Commented May 11, 2011 at 16:22
  • @Ed: who is Dr. Seuss?
    – Anonymous
    Commented May 12, 2011 at 1:00
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    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss
    – Golden Cuy
    Commented Nov 6, 2012 at 21:43

3 Answers 3

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You could go with any of the following:

All 3 of my pens are green,

All (of) my 3 pens are green,

My 3 pens are all green,

The word triple as an adjective means:

  1. Three times bigger in size or amount

  2. Having three parts or including three people or things, for example:

    a triple murder

    a triple heart bypass

When used as a verb, it means:

  1. To cause (something) to become three times as great or as many
  2. To become three times as great or as many

In mathematics:

to triple the number 4 is equivalent to multiplying 4 by 3,

written numerically as: (4 + 4 + 4) or (4 x 3) = 12

Source: M-W

Hope that helps.

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    The closest construction to "Both of them are green." is "All three of them are green."
    – Peter Shor
    Commented May 11, 2011 at 12:30
  • Yes, @PeterShor; you're quite right.
    – Karl
    Commented May 11, 2011 at 13:53
  • @Peter Shor: That's exactly what i said, in one sentence. I don't know why long answers are more attractive here.
    – Gigili
    Commented May 11, 2011 at 18:46
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    @zizi: "All my three pens" is different from "All three of my pens," and I believe the second one is quite a bit more natural in English. You can say "All my pens" and "My three pens," but when you put these constructions together, you need to add an of. I don't know why.
    – Peter Shor
    Commented May 11, 2011 at 19:28
  • @Peter, it's because "All my pens" really needs an 'of', too ("All of my pens"). I think omitting the 'of' really only sounds OK because of a certain long-running TV show by the name of All My Children.
    – Marthaª
    Commented May 11, 2011 at 21:04
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You can say "all my 3 pens are green" to mention the number of your pens and their color, simultaneously.

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    "Each of my 3 pens are green" sounds more natural to me.
    – MrHen
    Commented May 11, 2011 at 17:26
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    @MrHen: "Each of my 3 pens is green"
    – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
    Commented May 11, 2011 at 17:54
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I have three pens - all green.

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