Search results for 'tag:Plurals tag:Singular nouns' matching tags 'Plurals' and 'Singular nouns'

Re: One or two

Goodman — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:55:35 GMT

Abil,
Yes, you are correct in "formal" usage.
This may help clear any doubts:

http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/english/2005/02/neither_or_eith.html

Laura asks:
How about using "neither" versus "either"? I transcribe for doctors, and this is one rule I just can't get straight in my head.
I need to figure out a way to remember which to use when, because some of the docs use them indiscriminately.

Great question!

"Either" and "neither" are both singular adjectives meaning "one or the other of two." "Neither" of course means "not the first
one and not the second one."In formal writing, we usually use a singular verb because "either" and "neither" signal that one of the following
nouns is the subject, but not both:

Either Bill or Bob is going to the conference. (One or the other is going, but not both.)
Neither Joan nor Jane likes sushi. (= Joan doesn't like sushi. Jane doesn't like sushi either!)

Notice that we say "either...or" and "neither...nor." In informal English, most people would say "Neither Joan OR Jane LIKE sushi." That's
all right in conversation, but in formal documents you should prefer the formal usage.

Of course we have a confusing exception to this rule. You can use a plural verb if you have a plural noun next to the verb:
Either Joan or the Kennedys are going to the conference.

But put the singular noun closer to the verb, and it goes back to singular!
Either the Kennedys or Joan is going to the conference.

And it's the same with "neither":
Neither Jane nor her brothers like sushi.
Neither her brothers nor Jane likes sushi.

Of course the verb will be plural if both nouns are plural:
Either the Smiths or the Robinsons are meeting us at the station.
Neither the Canadians nor the Americans are interested in this problem.

Re: Singular or plural form of noun adjective

Mister Micawber — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:44:07 GMT

.
'Seemed' to have seen? Could you supply a link to teachers supply that means ' a supply of teachers'?-- at least, that is how I am interpreting your sentences. If they mean "a teachers' supply of chalk", then that is a different matter. Yes, usually the singular noun is used (as adjective) rather than a possessive form, either singular (teacher's) or plural (teachers')

I find you mission sentence odd, but you do not supply the surrounding context. Perhaps Missions is a proper name?

Re: Standard spoken English

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:00:04 GMT

Something to chew on:

THE NOTION OF STANDARD SPOKEN GRAMMAR

The term âstandard grammarâ is most typically associated with written language,
and is usually considered to be characteristic of the recurrent usage of adult,
educated native speakers of a language. Standard grammar ideally reveals no
particular regional bias. Thus âStandard British Englishâ grammar consists of items
and forms that are found in the written usage of adult educated native speakers
from Wales, Scotland and England and those Northern Irish users who consider
themselves part of the British English speech community.

The typical sources of evidence for standard usage are literary texts, quality
journalism, academic and professional writing, etc. Standard grammar is given the
status of the official record of educated usage by being written down in grammar
books and taught in schools and universities.

Spoken transcripts often have frequent occurrences of items and structures
considered incorrect according to the norms of standard written English. However,
many such forms are frequently and routinely used by adult, educated native speakers.

Examples of such structures are split infinitives (e.g. We decided to immediately sell it),
double negation (e.g. He wonât be late I donât think, as compared to I donât think he will
be late), singular nouns after plural measurement expressions (e.g. Heâs about six foot
tall), the use of contracted forms such as gonna (going to), wanna (want to), and so on.

Standard spoken English grammar will therefore be different from standard
written English grammar in many respects if we consider âstandardâ to be a
description of the recurrent spoken usage of adult native speakers. What may be
considered ânon-standardâ in writing may well be âstandardâ in speech.
Speech and writing are not independent. Although some forms of spoken
grammar do not appear in writing (unless in written dialogues), there is
considerable overlap and there is an increasing range of forms appearing in
informal written texts which previously were only considered acceptable in
speech. In 120 the presence of typically spoken grammatical forms contexts as emails and internet chat-room exchanges is discussed.

From: The Cambridge Grammar of English (GCE)

Re: correction 5

Goodman — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:10:06 GMT

Hi N2G,

After I replied your question last night, I thought about it and I got up this morning to do some Googling on the word âdeclineâ. Just as I said, depending on the context, we can say âa declineâ (as singular noun), âXYZ has experienced continuous declines in sales â (as plural noun). It is also used as a verb. â Apr 3, 2007 ... GM's sales declined 4.2 percent from a year earlierâ¦â

Big 3 automakers see sharp decline in sales - Autos- msnbc.com

Aug 1, 2006 ... Big 3 automakers see sharp decline in sales ( Decline was used as collective noun)... GM, the worldâs largest automaker, said its sales fell 22.2 percent, with trucks falling ...

I won't listen any further

Jackson6612 — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:22:20 GMT

Are the following sentences correct? In the third sentence, I'm having problem with the which. I always thought that which refers to singular nouns but in this case it refers to the plural, hundreds of things.

1: I won't listen any further.

2: I have already broken my one phone set, now you want me to break this last one also?

3: There are hundreds of things in this life over which you don't have any control.

Re: plural or singular

Marius Hancu — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:12:57 GMT

>I would like to find out whether we should use a plural or a singular noun in the following sentences:

plural or singular

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:27:13 GMT

I would like to found out whether we use a plural or singular noun for the following sentences:

We eat with our mouth or mouths.

You need to write the sender's and receiver's address or addresses.

Which one is correct?

Thanks

Oreo

Re: dash

Anonymous — Fri, 30 May 2008 05:47:49 GMT

Thank you, CalifJim.

You wrote this:

In many cases the dash is simply a device for creating an informal style. It suggests a pause in the writer's thoughts -- or that some new thought has suddenly occurred to him. It gives the impression of spontaneity. I find that it is most common in letters to friends -- certainly not to anyone like a mayor or academic advisor.

This isn't related to the topic of this thread, but a sentence of our sentence is:

It suggests a pause in the writer's thoughts -- or that some new thought has suddenly occurred to him.

Here, I get confused whether I can say "a single new thought" or "several new thoughts." Of course, "some new thought" with its singular noun denotes singulr nature, but contextully it seems to tell differently, more to the plural nature.

One more example:

He shouldn't abandon our faith in Jane, but to accept the fact that some element of nurturing has been part of who she is.

Here, a single elment or plural elements; the sentence suggest a singular nature but context seems ot shout for the other.

Re: was or were

Takoyaki-English — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:06:29 GMT

Hello.

1) Neither the employees nor the manager were happy with the new policies.
2) Neither the employees nor the manager was happy with the new policies.
I think that the second one sounds better in formal writing.

The Oxford Dictionary says:
When neither... nor... or either... or... are used with two singular nouns, the verb can be singular or plural. A plural verb is more informal.

There was neither central air conditioning nor fans in the hotel.

Viceidol — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:45:26 GMT

There was neither central air conditioning nor fans in the hotel.

There were neither fans nor central air conditioningin the hotel.

I think the two sentences are both correct in their verbs. "Was" agrees with the singular noun (central air conditioning), and "were" agrees with the plural noun (fans), am I right?

Thank you for your replies.