ESL Vocabulary and Idioms

Re: Contact -- plural or singular?

CalifJim — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 04:30:32 GMT

Regarding his being French:

Ask him whether "tail" should be singular or plural in
"All the dogs were wagging their tail/tails."

Although it depends how proficient he is with 'the' English, I'll bet he'll say "tail"! (Right, Pieanne?)

CJ

Re: Contact -- plural or singular?

nona the brit — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 08:12:52 GMT

It's no diffferent to working in a restaurant as a clearer of tables - the table clearer.

Re: Contact -- plural or singular?

pieanne — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 16:40:24 GMT

Yes, we'd say (in French)

- catÃ©gories: - contacts (because they suppose there will be many)

- ...

(there are many categories, on of them being "contacts")

/or

- catÃ©gories de contacts.

(here we are talking about the contacts, and there are many categories of them)

Re: Contact -- plural or singular?

Dmcole — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 16:24:18 GMT

Thanks for these thoughts ... it turns out this fellow's first language is not English, but French. I suspect there is something in the Romance languages that keeps the double-plural.

\dmc

Re: Contact -- plural or singular?

CalifJim — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 04:00:11 GMT

Contacts
-> Manage contacts
-> Contact categories

I don't normally say or hear "buses drivers", "trucks drivers", "cars dealers", "cards dealers", or similar expressions, so I doubt I would say "contacts categories". If a contact is essentially an address, and you wouldn't say "addresses manager", why would you say "contacts manager"? Or does your hold-out say "addresses manager", too?

CJ

Re: Contact -- plural or singular?

MrPedantic — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 23:09:05 GMT

Not a correction; an alternative:

Contacts
-> Manage
-> Categories

(Cf. the Tables menu in Word: it doesn't repeat the word 'table' beside every option.)

MrP

Re: Contact -- plural or singular?

pieanne — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 18:01:33 GMT

Hello, DMC, welcome to the English Forums!

Let me try: In "contact manager", "contact" is treated as an adjective, and doesn't take an -s. But if you use it with an -s, I think it should be "contacts' manager", possessive form, manager of the contacts.

Other members may correct me, though...

Contact -- plural or singular?

Dmcole — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 17:53:25 GMT

Hiya.

I am volunteering on an open source computer application project, helping out with documentation.

We are working on a section of the program that handles lists of persons, with their names, addresses, etc.

A small controversy has arisen: You -- and I -- might know this function as a "contact manager." One member of the team insists that this should be a "contacts manager."

For example, his proposed wording is for the menu is:

Contacts
-> Manage contacts
-> Contacts categories

I agree with two-thirds of his suggestion; it's the last line that has me stymied (I think it should be "Contact categories").

Doesn't "contact" take on a plural singularity in some instances?

Muddying the water a bit is that I believe my nemisis is from the UK, Australia or New Zealand and I have a sneaky feeling that American English does treat "contact" as a singular plurality, while British English does not.

Any insights would be appreciated.

Thanks.

\dmc