Questions tagged [singular-vs-plural]
For questions about the difference between singular and plural forms of a word; when they should be used, or the difference between them.
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Why does a native English speaker on TV respond "Five month" instead of "5 months" in the context of pregnancy?
Man and his ex-girlfriend are arguing, and the man is shocked to find out his ex-girlfriend is pregnant. And they are talking:
Man: How... I mean, how far gone are you?
Woman: Is it too late to make ...
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plot vs plots for comparison
Hamlet and Macbeth are very much alike in their plot.
Should plot be replaced with plots? I think so. Because there are two plots: the plot of Hamlet and the plot of Macbeth, so plural, right?
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If each person owns one house, should I say: Five people live in [a house or houses]?
These five people live in houses.
These five people live in a house.
Each of them only lives in one house, but the second sentence can also be understood as all five of them live together in a single ...
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Surfing social media is one of the most, if not the most popular ______ among my friends => pastime or pastimes?
Surfing social media is one of the most, if not the most popular ______ among my friends.
Should I use "pastime" or "pastimes" here?
Should I place a comma between "most"...
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Collective nouns in use
We can say "the team is or are" depending on how we see it. What if we say "A team"? Then only "is" is correct,right?
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"It's both talent and hard work that are/is required." — Why is "are" incorrect? "Both talent and hard work" is plural and must agree only with "are"
proofreadnow.com:
If the subject consists of two or more words that are connected by "and" or by "both ... and", the subject is plural and requires a plural verb.
From this text, ...
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Question regarding using singular or plural nouns
Recently I have been puzzled by this question below:
There ___ a pen and two slices of cake.
Should I put "is" or "are" for the blank above? Some argued that "is" is ...
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singular or plural of "drink" [cups of drink] or [cups of drinks]
I have made up the sentences below.
(1) I'm very thirsty. Bob, I'm happy you're going to shop at the store over there. I'm not sure what I want to drink.
(a) You can just get me four cups of drink.
(b)...
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"have a better imagination" or "have better imagination"
Reading fairy tales allows children to have better imagination.
Reading fairy tales allows children to have a better imagination.
According to OD, imagination can be both countable and uncountable.
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Why is zero plural?
I saw this sentence in the math textbook.
For example, if we choose two 2s, zero 3s, and one 5, we get the divisor
Here they said zero 3s and one 5. Two is plural and one is singular, which is ...
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"List" + singular noun or "List" + plural noun?
I was having this discussion with a colleague on naming a programming function. Which gives us a list of logs that we call the "audit trail".
I told my colleague that it would be incorrect ...
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"migrant worker population" or "migrant workers population"
I'm always confused when it comes to whether to use plural or singular attributive nouns. I know the general rule, which is to use the singular form in cases where you are unsure, but every once in a ...
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Why use the word "event" in singular form in the following context?
I am trying to understand the following sentence:
In many cases, we are interested in the probability of some event, given that some other event has happened.
"some" + "event": ...
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Is what I wrote one pattern or two patterns?
Should sales for the three companies all increased and Company X had the highest sales figure be viewed as one pattern or two patterns? I don't know if I should use pattern or patterns. I somehow feel ...
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Difference in meaning between singular and plural in negative statements [closed]
I want to figure out the differences between the following sentences and if they have the same meaning?
What about adding "any" in the middle.
I don't have a question. --- I don't have ...
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