Search results for 'tag:Plurals tag:Pronouns' matching tags 'Plurals' and 'Pronouns'

Re: Â«...clean grimy hands...Â»

MissMandy — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:40:19 GMT

Unless you are talking about specific hands, you do not need an article of any sort. Generic plurals just don't need articles. I would guess that the author was looking for poetic writing, or else he would have probably added the pronoun "your" just as he did for "weary faces". But it isn't necessary.

Hope that helps!

~Miss Mandy

Re: nominative and objective pronouns.......confusing!

Huevos — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:05:16 GMT

Anonymous
You make errors even as you discuss errors!
1. You link singular "someone" with plural "they";
2. Childrens' is wrong;
3. "than me" should be "than I"!

Scary.

George

Argumentum ad hominem!

Go and read some Causer or Shakespeare. This construction is over 500 years old. Although many 19th century grammars shunned it, almost all 21st century models have embraced it once again.
Just a typo. No need for a personal attack. What's the big deal anyway, it wasn't the subject of the discussion.
To the conserative prescriptivist yes, but for the majority of English speakers that 19th construction has fallen from favour.

Re: nominative and objective pronouns.......confusing!

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:32:00 GMT

You make errors even as you discuss errors!
1. You link singular "someone" with plural "they";
2. Childrens' is wrong;
3. "than me" should be "than I"!

Scary.

George

Re: Which one is correct

Mister Micawber — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:04:07 GMT

.
pair: noun, plural 'pairs', 'pair'.

When used without a modifier, 'pairs' is the only possible plural: Pairs of skaters glided over the ice. When modified by a number, 'pairs' is the more common form, especially referring to persons: Six pairs of masked dancers led the procession. The unmarked plural 'pair' is used mainly in reference to inanimate objects or nonhumans: He has three pair (or pairs) of loafers. Two pair (or pairs) of barn owls have nested on our property.
'Pair' signifying two individuals can take either a singular or plural verb, but it is usually followed by a plural verb and referred to by a plural pronoun: The guilty pair have not been seen since their escape. (Random House Dict)

Re: object plural

Clive — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:20:48 GMT

Hi,

1. The mouse made a hole in the box.

Once again , I have to rewrite this sentence , changing nouns and pronouns into plural forms.

1.a The mice made holes in the boxes.

1.b The mice made the holes in the boxes.

Which one is correct? #1

My doubt<<<<< Note this is not really a doubt. It's a question. is the " a hole" should be changed into "holes" only or "the holes".

Could anybody explain it?' A hole' is an indefinite reference. 'Holes' is the plural indefinite reference.

The mouse made a hole in the box. plural = The mice made holes in the boxes.

The mouse made the hole in the box. plural = The mice made the holes in the boxes.

Best wishes, Clive

object plural

hanuman_2000 — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:50:03 GMT

Hello,

1. The mouse made a hole in the box.

Once again , I have to rewrite this sentence , changing nouns and pronouns into plural forms.

1.a The mice made holes in the boxes.

1.b The mice made the holes in the boxes.

Which one is correct?

My doubt is the " a hole" should be changed into "holes" only or "the holes".

Could anybody explain it?

Thanks.

plural

hanuman_2000 — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:41:56 GMT

Hello,

I have to rewrite the following sentences, changing the nouns and pronouns into their plural forms.

1. A rose plant has thorns.

1.a The rose plants have thorns.

1.b Rose plants have thorns.

Now I have one doubt, Shall I write as 1.a or 1.b?

When a sentence start with "A" for example

2. A book is made of paper.

Shall I write

The books are made of papers.

Books are made of paper.

What are the rules? Please help me.

Thanks.

Re: Verb in singular or plural?

Doll — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:04:39 GMT

Anonymous
My two cents:

1) Neither Paul nor John is American. or 2) Neither Paul nor John are American. When you see "neither nor" structure with two pronouns, give importance to the latest pronoun. Your last pronoun is John here so use "is".

1) Both Paul and John is American. or 2) Both Paul and John are American. When you see "both/and" structure always think that two or more things are joined, this sign, "+", could make you remember the rule better. Associate "both" with "+" and use the plural axuliary verb which is "are" here.

1) Both Paul and John is a doctor. or 2) Both Paul and John are doctors.

I'm asking this because in my native language, Portuguese, the verb can be used in plural (if we consider both subjects, Paul and John) or in singular (if we consider only John, the last one mentioned); verb agreement rules, so to speak. What about in English? Is it the same reasoning?

Thank you very much.

brunces

In short, neither nor: Decide according to the last pronoun and in your example it should be "is".

Both and: Always use plural which is "are" in your example.

Re: These ones and those ones

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:38:46 GMT

Simply put you can not have a plural pronoun describing a singular occurence.

If you want to know how to restate your sentence do the following:

Are these the pens you're looking for?

Thanks, but no, those are not what I'm looking for. You don't have to restate pens again. Those is a plural pronoun for pens. Ones would be using another prounoun for pens but this time is is in the singular form with a s making it plural. Makes completely no sense at all.

He is correct.

Re: fruit are?

Cool Breeze — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:01:32 GMT

Goodman

As written: John and Mary are the only officers who make decisions around here. And I asked if the answer should be [makes] or [make].
And you said "In your sentence of course make"

By the nature of your comment, didn't you just agree with my view?

Yes, as far as who is concerned. What is something else. It never has an antecedent as a relative pronoun, neither singular nor plural, nothing, and that's why a singular verb is used with it. This is obvious from the singular that, which occurs in that which, which is sometimes used to replace what.

You can of course check the grammatical behavior of relative what in any good grammar book if you don't believe me. I find it very strange that you haven't already done that. It would have saved you a lot of time wasted writing opinions instead of facts.