By Plurals, Marriage

1.Is it OK to say: They're going to celebrate their 30th marriage (you could omit marriage) anniversary. 2. These are the politicians who trigger off wars and civilians die. You've used the Present simple. Is this something usual for these guys? If not it should be '... triggered off...

Hi GG, I am in full agreement with your examples in these contexts. Yes, they are correct. Singular or plural can still be used in a generic sense.- Sure, but it's still contexts dependent in my opinion I think most men, including me will just say " high heels are sexy". That,...

See, I disagree. High-heeled shoes are uncomfortable. Gay marriages are . (I don't want to get into that debate, obviously.) In both of these sentences, I'm not talking about specific instances at all. I'm using the term generically, just like "Lions are fierce...

Absolutely correct, but that doesn't stop us from saying that we use the singular form when indicating the abstract/concept/generic meanings of nouns. In the sentence, "He wrote an article about the child in conflict with modern society," "child" is singular. (I may...

No. The fact that you've used the plural marriages means it's countable. Any plural form you see indicates that the noun is countable. Uncountable (or noncountable) nouns do not occur in the plural.CJ

Thanks, Optilang, GG and Yoong Liat. I have no further question about the original question. I agree with GG's answer (arranged marriageS, gay marriage) Yong Liat, this is a side question. I wonder why my question confused you and made you ask: You suggested 'plural' or...

As far as I know singular and plural are words associated with countable. For example An apple (is singular) Apples(is plural) a gay marriage ( is singular) gay marriages (is plural) gay marrriage (is abstract/uncountable) The reason I chose uncountable was that I wanted to emphasize the...

Yes, the word is confusing because, I think, you mean 'arranged marriage/marriages.' So I think you should have used singular or plural. It should be 'arranged marriages'.

I support gay marriage - the concept of gay marriage. Use the singular. For reasons I can't explain either, I too prefer arranged marriages. Edit: That is, as a matter of style, I prefer the plural in arranged marriages. I am neutral on the actual topic!

I think if you want to use the term "marriage" in a general sense, which I think how you intended to use in for your first sentence, then I see no need to resort to many instances of marriages. So, I think this is good: I'm all for gay marriage. But for your second...