Questions tagged [distributive-determiners]
The distributive-determiners tag has no usage guidance.
14 questions
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"Both" followed by two things, one of them being a plural
"Both" is used to talk about two things (and not more), but what if one of these things is itself a plural? For instance:
Both the children and the teacher were unhappy about the situation.
...
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How to avoid using the word "corresponding" in a casual chat?
For instance, I want to say this:
If I connect hardware 1 and hardware 2, can I still access them separately through their corresponding network ports?
But the word corresponding seems too formal ...
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How to use multiple "their" word?
How to use multiple "their" word ?
For example, in the sentence "parents and their children are criminals and their accomplices respectively", does the latter word "their"...
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Correct use of both for a pair of adjectives with a singular or an uncountable noun
I would like to know which of the following sentences is correct:
we investigate a new problem, where both a decisional and a switching variable is a control at disposal of the agents;
we investigate ...
- 101
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Enumeration with "all"
Consider this sentence:
Your self-confidence, resilience and adaptability , all will help you integrate in this new competitive environment.
My question is about the comma before all. I tried to ...
- 36.8k
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Singular or Plural after plural subjects [duplicate]
In the following sentence, which should I use, singular phone or plural phones?
Most people have (a) smartphone(s) nowadays.
I think singular is correct, because using plural makes it sounds like ...
3
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1
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Why do distributive adjectives mostly take a singular noun while quantitative adjectives mostly take a plural noun?
I am sure that there are some exceptions to this, but I have noticed that distributive adjectives like “each”, “every”, “either”, “neither”, etc., mostly take a singular noun, while quantitative ...
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I made both of you buy the (games or game) [duplicate]
I had made two of my friends buy CS:GO and today, while texting in a group I said "I made both of you buy the games". My friend corrected me with "*game". Was I wrong? I tried googling but couldn't ...
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“doesn’t it”/“don’t they” with “every” as a determiner
Which of the two is correct: “Every cell phone does that, doesn’t it?” or “Every cell phone does that, don’t they?”
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What happens when the determiner is missing?
Phrase 1:
Police officers have the authority to arrest people.
Phrase 2:
All police officers have the authority to arrest people.
As I understand it, the all in phrase 2 is a distributive ...
- 109
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"Everybody's using a cell phone nowadays" vs. "Everybody's using cell phones nowadays"
The usage of singular and plural has always been confusing for me.
I often see sentences like these
People are using cell phones.
People are using a cell phone.
Does the first sentence ...
- 211
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Do you pluralize the singular possessions of / items or people associated with individual members of a plural group?
In a situation where say a group (or at least a plurality) of men is being addressed — for example on a sign passed by many married men — which is correct?
"Remind your wife."
or
"...
- 457
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2
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Universal quantifiers
In the following statements all the individuals of a group are addressed for gratitude:
Gratitude is owed to each member of the group.
Gratitude is owed to every member of the group.
Gratitude is ...
- 423
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Should a noun after the determiner *their* take in the form of singular or of plural?
Should I say
Some people use the word "flat" to describe their phone when its battery is dead.
or
Some people use the word "flat" to describe their phones when their batteries are dead. (I ...
