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Situation: I asked a customer to run a diagnostic test on a drawing tablet because he had a problem of using it on this computer. The customer ran the test on his tablet and gave me the data from the test. I see no issue/issues with the tablet hardware. So, I'm writing an email to him and not sure if the "issue/issues" should be singular or plural in the given situation.

We're quite sure "there is no hardware issue" or "there are no hardware issues" with the tablet.

Which one is correct here? If, they are both grammatically correct, which one would be more preferred to use normally?

Thanks for your help.

Edit: Would the sentence below be more appropriate or sounds more natural?

We're quite sure "there is no hardware issues"

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    Why do you think one of those is somehow an error? Again and again people ask us to tell them why there can be only one right answer, and language simply does not work like tests: there are many right answers. It might be possible to construct a surrounding context in which one or the other is more common, but certainly without that your question cannot be answered.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Dec 22, 2017 at 3:07
  • There is no hardware issue and there are no hardware issues are both fine. There is no hardware issues will always be wrong. Who doubts that, please ask again somewhere more appropriate, such as English Language Learners.
    – Robbie Goodwin
    Commented Dec 22, 2017 at 17:25

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Either is correct.

I'll tell you that when I read the first version I leaned slightly toward thinking that it is a response to a concern or suspicion that the failure or problem arose from a hardware-related source. When I read the second version, I leaned a bit toward thinking that the owner of the device has no idea what might be wrong with it, and the technician, at least so far, is convinced the problem is not with the hardware, and must lie with the software or elsewhere (and sort of implies that the tech's responsibilities do not extend beyond hardware).

It would be interesting to know how others interpret the two sentences.

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