Questions tagged [grammatical-number]
This tag applies to questions that deal with grammatical number: “singular” versus “plural”, and (rarely) also “dual”.
2,713
questions
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47 views
Can we use a/an for plural pronouns?
First of all English isn't my first language so bear with me if you see any grammar mistakes here and there.
So my question is: can we use 'a/an' for plural pronouns? For example, "they are a good ...
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0answers
33 views
the plural of the name of the letter e is ees [duplicate]
According to the wikipedia article of letter e
The plural of the name of the letter e is ees (the plural of the
letter itself is rendered E's, Es, e's, es).
Therefore, is ees then a regular ...
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1answer
52 views
Is this sentence correct? It seems wrong, but I can’t pinpoint why!
I am proofing work for someone and this sentence seems incorrect, but I'm not sure why I think that. Is it truly incorrect? I feel like 'comes' should be 'come'.
He stumbles back downstairs to the ...
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0answers
43 views
Plural possessive of the acronym COA
How do I write the plural possessive of the acronym COA in APA style (which in general doesn't allow for the use of an apostrophe)?
COA = children orphaned by AIDS
Children orphaned by AIDS [...
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0answers
38 views
Shays' Rebellion or Shays's Rebellion?
On khan academy, it is Shays's. However on wikipedia, it is written Shays'. I am confused as to which one is grammatically correct. Thanks!
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1answer
27 views
Is the word after 'footwear' in this sentence correct? Should it stay 'enhance' or should it be 'enhances'?
The sentence is this:
Take time to explore how your beautifully crafted footwear enhance your every moment.
This doesn't read comfortably to me and I feel that it should be 'enhances'.
Which is ...
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1answer
38 views
Do or does: “Stative verbs show a state of being that does/do…”
I read the sentence 'Stative verbs show a state of being that does not show qualities of change' on Grammarly.
I'd expected do instead of does, in the sentence. But by this, my understanding is that,...
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0answers
8 views
Which is proper, “3 thousand dead” or “3 thousands dead”? [migrated]
I wonder if 3-thousand dead can be rewritten as 3 thousands dead? Are both of them correct? What's the difference between them?
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0answers
21 views
Do I use whom or who in this sentence? [duplicate]
Family engagement is crucial to developing children’s emergent literacy skills because children who are raised in homes that promote literacy do better in school and they grow up to be better readers.
2
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0answers
50 views
When comparing singular with a plural entities
A professor corrected me a sentence in an academic paper and he wrote:
An alternative to X method is automatic methods
and I am a bit puzzled that you can write a sentence in the form of "[singular ...
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1answer
49 views
Correct Usage of Plural Possessive Word “user”? [duplicate]
Which of the following is the correct usage of the plural possessive word "user"?
We would like to store a cookie in every user's browser.
or
We would like to store a cookie in every users' ...
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0answers
32 views
Usage of “the” prefix where it doesn't seem to be grammatically correct [duplicate]
I've noticed 2 instances of usage of a the prefix where it doesn't seem to correspond with standard usage of English.
The flu
I'd expect a flu or just flu:
He caught a flu
She's infected with ...
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1answer
54 views
“I don't have an apple” vs. “I don't have apples”?
I have seen both. I tried to think about the count. When it comes to "nothing", it indicates a number of 0, which in English should be expressed by plural. However, both forms are common.
Which form ...
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1answer
88 views
Why is the verb for “pretexts … and necessity … was exposed” used in the singular in this quotation? [closed]
In the following context, a quote from The Three Musketeers, shouldn’t it be were exposed?
The pretexts about the cold and the necessity for the cloak was exposed.
Or is was here referring just ...
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2answers
68 views
Would you add the plural “s” to the short form of an abbreviation on first reference?
When you want to give a group of words an abbreviation or short form so it doesn't have to be repeated in long form each time, and it is plural, how would it be abbreviated on first reference? Would ...
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3answers
326 views
Is cow ever the plural of cow?
I was thinking about ruminants, as you do, and I noticed that, unlike with sheep or deer, cows is the plural of cow. I started wondering why, then it occurred to me that maybe there were dialects that ...
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1answer
63 views
Should I use “What is the difference…” or “What are the differences…” if I don't know how many difference(s) there is/are?
If I want to ask a question about the difference(s) between A and B, but not sure about there is only one difference or many, should I use "What is the difference between A and B" or "What are the ...
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1answer
26 views
Singular characteristic to describe a list of items
Here's the question: The materials for the boxes, pallets, and crates are ready. The material for the boxes, pallets, and crates is ready.
Should "material" be plural or singular? I'm writing a paper ...
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0answers
30 views
Pluralization of martini
Why is martini pluralized when a volume larger than one drink is referred to? "I have a pitcher if martinis chilling." We don't say we have a pitcher of lemonades chilling.
1
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1answer
41 views
Singular or plural form? [closed]
Which sentence is correct?
The size of X and Y is the same.
The sizes of X and Y is the same.
The size of X and Y are the same.
The sizes of X and Y are the same.
As a non-native speaker, my feeling ...
0
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0answers
31 views
Plurals in generic grammar [duplicate]
A friend who is learning English asked me this question today and I was unable to give a definitive answer on grammar.
The phrase constructions below are quoted verbatim from them :
An English ...
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0answers
41 views
Is the sentence “Do you know how short 7 minutes IS” grammatically incorrect? [duplicate]
In this video at this time code, two of the various cops say "Do you know how short 7 minutes is?" Is that grammatically incorrect, since "7 minutes" is plural? Or is that just informal language? Or ...
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0answers
90 views
Which Is Correct: exact date or exact dates? [closed]
Is it correct to make the word "date" plural or leave it singular in phrase below:
Enter the exact date you started and finished each employment.
or
Enter the exact dates you started and ...
0
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1answer
65 views
If you have a collection of something, is the something writen in plural? [closed]
A collection like in:
A list of users
A group of cities
When attaching this as we do in software development to name variables, should it be named
userList vs usersList
cityGroup vs citiesGroup
...
0
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1answer
29 views
Singular or Plural in conjunction with OR condition that could include one or more objects [duplicate]
Which one is accurate?
...when one or two individuals do not have [an ID] or [IDs]
another example:
...this is the case when one or two students [are] or [is] missing
Theoretically, if one ...
0
votes
1answer
57 views
“Architecture”: Countable or Uncountable
Cambridge Dictionary lists "architecture" as uncountable noun.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/architecture
noun [ U ]
Thus, it shouldn't take indefinite article; it shouldn't ...
0
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1answer
34 views
Plural or singular verb when plural subject is separated by an “and”? [duplicate]
A similar question is here, in which a comma is used in place of a conjunction like and.
I came across the following quotation of C. S. Lewis which reads,
“What you see and what you hear depends ...
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0answers
62 views
What is the plural of “+1”? [duplicate]
What is the best plural of "+1" in casual American English writing?
Possible ideas I've considered include:
+1s
+1's
0
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2answers
61 views
Pluralizing an irregular family name [duplicate]
I have a doubt about the pluralization of irregular family names. What if the family name is an irregular plural form like "mice"? Should you say "the Mice" or "the Mices"?
1
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1answer
47 views
“The youth of today dream of high-quality educationS.” (Why) Is this sentence correct?
The youth of today dream of high-quality educationS.
Is this sentence correct? If so, then why?
A teacher I know often uses uncountable Nonouns such as knowledges, educations, sugars as plurals.
...
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1answer
40 views
Appropriate Use of Possessive Plurals?
We have a debate on whether it should be "classes" or "classes'" in the sentence below. Your wisdom is appreciated.
Sentence:
This rebalancing of customer classes’ impacts on the system means there ...
2
votes
2answers
92 views
Why does the following sentence use the word 'knowledges'? [closed]
Consider the following question given in an English class for high school students in Myanmar:
Mg Mg has computer knowledge. Tun Tun has computer knowledge. (Given Answer word is Both _______).
We ...
0
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1answer
32 views
Stressing innovative studies has or have had? [duplicate]
I am unsure whether the sentence would make grammatical sense as has or have had. Is this sentence fragment considered singular or plural? Is stressing a gerund that makes it singular? Because ...
0
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1answer
69 views
Can Importance Be Different?
Importance is an uncountable noun, so one may shorten this sentence
We have external information and internal information. The importance of the external information and that of the internal ...
0
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1answer
39 views
In the sentence 'This means everyone should have their turn to say something.' , why is the noun not used in plural?
I am preparing for an exam, and came across the sentence below.
'This means everyone should have their turn to say something'
And I wondered why this sentence has no grammatical errors.
Isn't the ...
2
votes
3answers
101 views
How “much” emissions or how “many” emissions?
The following is what I found in the website of US Energy Information Administration.
Is the word "emissions" usually used with "much" as in the quotation? If so, why is the verb "are" used instead ...
0
votes
1answer
24 views
Plural object being equated to an idiom [duplicate]
The following sentence appeared in an article: "I would say 94,504 bitcoins is real folding money, but you can't fold bitcoins." A colleague said that it should have been 'are' instead of 'is.' I am ...
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1answer
52 views
Can I use “Audios” as my folder name?
Audio and video is an uncountable noun, however, audios word is never seen generally. Does that mean it's not okay to use it in context?
0
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1answer
46 views
What is the plural for the abbreviation of the word “captain”?
I thought it would be Cpts., as in: "Captains Johansson and Riley were present" -> "Cpts. Johansson and Riley were present", but I cannot find anything definitive online.
Additionally, I would have ...
1
vote
1answer
54 views
Onion vs onions
Today I came across a sentence in The Daily Star
prices of locally grown onion rose yesterday for the lack of availability.
I know onion is countable.Therefore,it should have been
locally grown ...
2
votes
1answer
46 views
Do we use plural of percent when having two percentages? [closed]
Should I use percent or percents here?
"They are reported to be 7 and 8 percent respectively."
Regards.
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0answers
37 views
List of singular and plural adjectives. Does the object take singular or plural?
Example:
The line has one, both, or neither point.
or
The line has one, both, or neither points.
1
vote
1answer
58 views
Cars manufacturers or car manufacturers?
While referring to an attribute of a group of objects, should the attribute alone be pluralized or should the objects be pluralized as well? Is there a rule that can be used to identify which word(s) ...
1
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2answers
69 views
'Now stands' or 'now stand'
Should it be...
"To the south now stand a car park and a cruise ship terminal"
OR
"To the sound now stands a car park and a cruise ship terminal"
2
votes
1answer
153 views
Are “measles, mumps, Diabetes, rabies, rickets, shingles” uncountable nouns or singular nouns?
Page http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv259.shtml say that these words are uncountable nouns, but page https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/...
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1answer
80 views
May I use a singular form or a plural form before a clause starting with “for each”?
In this sentence, may I use the singular "due date" or the plural "due dates"?
Please let us know your earliest possible due dates for each product.
Each product should have only one due date. But ...
1
vote
1answer
346 views
Is it proper to say, “our mind” or “our minds” as each person has one mind; or is it considered collectively?
Is it proper to say, "our mind" or "our minds"? Each person has one mind, which causes me to lean towards "our mind". However, collectively, more than one person has more than one mind (generally ...
0
votes
1answer
75 views
Why is 'you' considered plural? [closed]
The pronoun 'you' can be used both as a singular and a plural pronoun. However, it is never paired with 'is' and always with 'are'.
Why is it that 'you' is considered plural?
My guess would be that ...
0
votes
1answer
91 views
Plural of an initialism written in lowercase with abbreviation full stops
Although similar questions have been already posed and answered here, I still have this doubt: in the case of initialisms written in lowercase (and possibly having full stops after each letter), how ...
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0answers
46 views
Why is it called box of gum? [closed]
A friend and I were having a conversation where I said "box of gums" and then I was corrected to say "box of gum". Why is it called a box of gum, when it's not a solid body of gum, but each gum is a ...
