Questions tagged [grammatical-number]
This tag applies to questions that deal with grammatical number: “singular” versus “plural”, and (rarely) also “dual”.
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Usage of singular noun as a concept for generalization [duplicate]
I have recently come across two sentences that feature the usage of singular nouns to generalise the statement as they follow.
"The presence of the gene predisposes a person to heart disease&...
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What is the correct way to write a plural of several singular numbered items? [duplicate]
Box 1 + Box 2 = "Box Nos. 1 and 2" or "Boxes Nos. 1 and 2"
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Properly indicating number agreement for the word company [duplicate]
Alright, so let's say that I'm selling tickets, I could either sell 1 (singular) ticket or multiple (plural) tickets, and if I wanted to write the number of tickets each person purchased in a uniform ...
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Using "content" vs. "contents" when referring to multiple written works
I am aware of the previous discussions on "content" vs. "contents". According to the top answer there, it looks like they can be used interchangeably when referring to a written ...
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Can we use 3rd person singular for "Come Find"?
I have the following question which Copilot, Gemini, and ChatGPT couldn't answer properly.
I understand that in American English, people drop and in "Come and Find," and say "Come find.&...
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participants or the participants [closed]
I'm relatively new to academia and I've noticed scientists write "participants" instead of "the participants" in the context of, for example, "participants did this" in ...
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Does the adjective "numerous" require plural subjects? Are there any other words with this property?
As a (nonnative) long-time English learner, I found that descriptive grammars often point out that verbs like surround, gather, disband, etc. require plural subjects:
(1a) The girl surrounded the ...
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"change directory" or "change directories"?
I'm updating some software documentation and referring to the cd command in a shell/commandline. I'm starting with the assumption that all of the following are correct (but please do validate this ...
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Singular or plural: "30 subjects put(s) us"
Is singular or plural correct in this case?
We believe that 30 subjects put us comfortably above the field’s
average for similar studies.
We believe that 30 subjects puts us comfortably above the ...
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Information can't take an s
I suggested an edit which was rejected by 2 reviewers. I don't know why it was rejected but it could be because I removed 's' to 'informations'.
https://stackoverflow.com/review/suggested-edits/...
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pronoun (etc) used to refer back to (overtly) a string of verbs
I am drafting the dedication below, which includes a list of adjectives:
Never stop building, searching, and asking why. It will take you to amazing places.
I'm questioning whether "It" is ...
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plural forms of adjective nouns [duplicate]
Why do we say "apple trees" but "liberal arts colleges"?
I have seen discussion like Nouns of plural form preceding another noun but I don't get a very definitive answer. It seems ...
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Debt collection software or debt collections software? [duplicate]
I've found several discussions about the general use of "collection" vs "collections" but not in the context of debt collection, specifically.
I'm currently editing a series of ...
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In genealogy, what is the plural of proof?
In genealogy, a birth certificate, a marriage license, and a census record are each examples of a proof.
If I am going to say, "Send your application with all genealogical proofs..." is that ...
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Can "more [something]s" be singular if the focus is on the quantity and not the things?
If I say "A greater amount of cookies is better," the subject "A greater amount" is clearly singular.
One of the definitions of "more" is "a greater amount of," ...
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