Questions tagged [grammatical-number]
"Grammatical number" is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions.
427 questions
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Are the rules usually given for "do" and "does" wrong?
Every link on Google says, "do" is for singular, "does" is for plural, but this is blatantly not true.
I do not like this
Bob does not like this
You do not like this
She does not ...
chausies
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3
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Ten minutes walk Vs ten minute walk
ten minutes walk
ten minute walk
Having read a fair bit about it and the different thoughts on it. I'm still puzzled about it. My logic is that ten minutes makes the word minute a plural word.
I kind ...
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Number coordination in 'Apple iPhones are one of the must-have products'
I am wondering how easily a plural noun can be considered as a single group and thus replaced by 'it' or 'one', as in
'Apple iPhones are one of the must-have products'
https://youtu.be/U-ExazFOMqI?t=...
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The number concordance in 'The employees are not allowed to bring their pet(s) into the office.'
I am wondering if
'The employees are not allowed to bring their pet into the office.'
is used about as often as
'The employees are not allowed to bring their pets into the office.'
And if such a ...
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What is the correct possessive plural for the head(s) of multiple people?
The sentence in question is
It rained on the head of James, Steve, and Billy.
To me it sounds like it should be
It rained on the heads of James, Steve, and Billy.
Should there also be an ...
MegaAwp
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How to read /L in english , like I this expression 4 x 109/L? [closed]
4 x 109/L I need to know how to read this /L in this expression. Thx
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The usage of "any other" with nouns
If the modifier any is used with singular and plural nouns, and other is only used with plural nouns (and uncontable), why when the word any is used before other estabilishes which form will take the ...
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Is it possible to read 4,500,000,000 as four thousand five hundred million?
Is it possible to read 4,500,000,000 as four thousand five hundred million?
I know the number is four billion five hundred million, but wonder if there is another option.
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“It is a great deal!” vs “This is a great deal!” vs “That is a great deal!” vs “Those are a great deal!”
What’s the correct answer for the following question set?
Speaker A: I’ll buy these rugs as a memento of our holiday.
Speaker B: __________ a great idea!
a. Those are (a great idea!)
b. It’s (a ...
mujdad
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Starts of plagued or starts of plaguing
After a rigged vote, the new government starts off plagued by illegitimacy and a mounting financial crisis.
After a rigged vote, the new government starts off plaguing by illegitimacy and a mounting ...
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"This might occur when a male and female horse see each other." — Why is it correct to use the singular "horse" with the plural "see" here?
an excerpt from the book "Walking the Way of the Horse", page 111:
... horses can use their front legs and hooves to strike at other horses. This might occur when two horses meet for the ...
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Half year, half years, half a year?
Which one is correct in English?
Half year,
half years, or
half a year?
Example sentences, where HY is one of the above:
HY ago he had a job.
After HY he finally found a job.
Note, that half year ...
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Why is the plural verb 'are' used in 'among the most eye-catching pieces in the whole collection are'?
For example, among the most eye-catching pieces in the whole collection are the marble animal sculptures under two arches on the left of the entrance hall.
I think 'among the most eye-catching pieces ...
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What type of nouns are 'cattle', 'staff' and 'jeans'?
I was taught that there are four types of nouns:
singular countable: journey, sheep, child
plural countable: journeys, sheep, children
singular uncountable: travel, water, fruit
plural uncountable:...
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Do the subject and object have to agree in number? For example: "Tigers (plural) are a wild animal (singular)"
Does the plurality of the object have to agree with the plurality of the subject? For example, which one of the following sentences is correct?
Tigers are wild animals and they live in the jungle.
...
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What's the meaning of "consult admins"?
When we're told:
Please consult admins before you post any comments.
Knowing that there are 2 admins, does the sentence above mean we should consult both of them, or is it enough to consult one of ...
user173574
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"and" conjunction reduction, multiples adjectives modifying singular noun
Is it proper English to say
a psychiatric and an equine experts
to refer to two separate experts, a psychiatric one and another equine one?
In the following phrase, it's unclear whether we're ...
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When can I use "math class" with an article?
I am searching for the information about countability of class, but cannot find it.
The situation where I would like to use "math class" is like this: You are looking at your school ...
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Gerund, plural and singular [duplicate]
I saw the following sentence:
Solving math problems gives Peter a headache.
My text said this sentence is following the grammar rule: "V-ing + sing. V"
But I think the sentence is wrong as ...
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Teeth exam or tooth exam
Which of the following is correct?
I got a teeth exam done.
I got a tooth exam done.
Dreams23
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Doors No. 1 and 2 or Door Nos. 1 and 2?
If there are three doors in a building numbered No.1, No.2, and No.3. When referring to them collectively, do I say "Doors No. 1, 2, and 3"; or "Door Nos. 1, 2, and 3"?
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Subject-verb number agreement relating to "services"
I understand the subject-verb number agreement rule but had a hard time locating answers relating to types of and use of the word "services." I assume that you don't use plural types if ...
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Is "Decorators are a proposal" grammatically correct?
Decorators are a proposal for extending JavaScript classes which is widely adopted among developers in transpiler environments, with broad interest in standardization.
Is "Decorators are a ...
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Mixing grammatical numbers "What pictures is it that you would like to see?"
What pictures is it that you want to see?
This line reads fine to me, grammatical and natural, but I wonder if stylistically speaking I should try and get the grammatical numbers to match. Limiting ...
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Is "all HTML elements are a single word" grammatically correct?
This prevents conflicts with existing and future HTML elements, since all HTML elements are a single word. (from "vue/multi-word-component-names")
Is "all HTML elements are a single ...
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The differences in usage of pronouns with animate and inanimate objects in plural
There are such patterns for the English language study beginners as:
This is my mother and father and They are bees, where both mother and father and bees are multiple objects. But in the first case ...
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Which one is correct: "one more book than" or "one more books than"?
Prerequisite：Mr.Smith has 30 books and Ms.Smith has 31 books.
Which is correct?
A. Ms.Smith has one more book than Mr.Smith.
B. Ms.Smith has one more books than Mr.Smith.
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describe charts: "the numbers/percentages of" or "the number/percentage of"
When describing the chart, should I use "the number/percentage of" or "the numbers/percentages of" in this sentence? Thanks for your kind help.
(1a) The bar chart illustrates the ...
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Can a subject and its complement be of different numbers?
Can a subject and a subject complement be of different numbers, i.e. one of them is plural and the other is singular?
To check this, I came up with some examples
(where, as I understand, "are&...
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Singular or plural noun after "kinds of"/"types of"?
I'm at a loss! If I'm talking about several different types/kinds of something, should the 'something' be pluralised or not? For instance, an Ngram search shows that different types of conflict is far ...
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What is the proper format to describe "X-ing" a number in dialogue?
If I have a character saying, "He's thinking of 2xing our budget." What would be the proper format?
"Two-xing"
"Two exing"
"2 exing"
"2-xing"
"...
user467001
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"The railways" or "the railway" or "railways"
Here are 2 examples in my grammar book, and it says that we use "the+plural noun" when we talk about a group as a whole:
It is difficult for railways to make a profit. (any railways).
The ...
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Using a singular and plural in the same sentence
During fourth grade, a group of pupils picked on me frequently.
I have pupils and me in the same sentence. I was wondering if this is legal or do I need to change me to a plural word.
Thank you in ...
bruh
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Do any English adjectives have grammatical number?
Most adjectives in English have the same form, regardless of whether the noun (or noun phrase) being modified is singular or plural. For example:
Mars is red.
Mars and Jupiter are red planets.
...
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Using 'either she or I' in interrogative sentence, which is correct? "Is either she or I ," or "am either she or I" [duplicate]
Using 'either she or I' in interrogative sentence, which is correct? "Is either she or I ," or "am either she or I"
The sentence I am thinking of is "Is either she or I ...
user464172
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What is the exact meaning of "for its own uses"?
This phrase seems grammatically speaking incorrect.
The Mosaic symbolism is very significant, because from it Freemasonry has derived and transmitted for its own uses many of the most precious ...
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Is "divergent popularities" an acceptable phrase?
Let's say we have two silent films released in the same year. One went on to become a classic, and the other one fell into oblivion. Should I refer to the "divergent popularities" or the &...
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A simple question on when to use "these" and when "those" while writing
Given:
You will be needing the following three things for your trip:
The first thing.
The second thing.
The third thing.
In reference to the three things just now listed above,
which one here is ...
sora
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Number with the word "respective"
Based on JavaLatte's answer to this question as well as on various dictionary definitions of the word "respective", I gather that the word serving as the head of a nounphrase premodified by &...
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Is the plural correct in "Russian Warcrimes House"?
Is it grammatical? Usually, noun modifiers take a singular form except when it changes the meaning ("right abuses" v. "rights abuses")
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How to say "the majority of our participants" and follow that with a number and percebtage [closed]
I want to express that the majority of participants and also want to say the number of participants (20) and percentage (50%) were students. I need to use this structure in different contexts. Does ...
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Electoral system or Electoral systems?
What are the difference and meanings of
Example 1:
Electoral system (singular)
Electoral systems (plural)
Note the page title below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_system
https://consoc.org....
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Plural quantifying expression + "of" + uncountable noun – which verb form?
Consider the following NPs:
500 years of history
100 liters of milk
300 grams of apple pie
When used as subjects in full clauses, which verb form do these NPs take – singular or plural verb? Am I ...
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What is the difference in these sentences?
Numerical adjectives. What is the difference between saying “40 days and 40 nights vs only “40 days and nights”
Also, if I’m looking for 10 bottles of wine and liquor does this mean 10 bottles in ...
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How to convert age+ to words
If I have "11+ years old children" in a sentence and I want to re-write the statement without the "+". What is the best alternative?
For 11 years old or more children.
or
For 11 ...
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Is it "in the field of X or Y" or "In the fields of X or Y"?
Which is correct of the following:
If you're interested in the field of chemistry or biology, this programme is for you!
If you're interested in the fields of chemistry or biology, this programme is ...
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Subject Verb agreement: a special case?
The sentence
In the play the incantations of the the witches completely accentuate/ accentuates the overall gloomy settings.
My question is should I use the "S" at the end of the word ...
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Will 'page number' be in singular if use it with 'from'?
My sentence:
The teacher made us read from page number 10 to 15.
The teacher made us read from page numbers 10 to 15.
Which one above is correct?
Is the sentence above grammatically correct?
Should ...
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Adverb of frequency and singular noun
I ate apple A for breakfast.
I ate apple B for lunch.
I ate apple C for dinner.
I heard that “I ate an apple three times” means “I ate the same apple three times.” Then should I say “I ate (three) ...
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Plural or singular noun: "Polish literature of the Positivist and Young Poland period(s)"
My sentence is:
The article presents a comprehensive study of Polish literature of the Positivist and Young Poland period.
Is this sentence correct? When listing two periods together, should I use '...
Katarzyna Suchocka-Pluskota