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Dmcole Posted 21 years ago
Vocabulary
Contact -- plural or singular?
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
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
Top answer
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.
- 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...
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7 Answers
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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...
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...
00
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
Contacts
-> Manage
-> Categories
(Cf. the Tables menu in Word: it doesn't repeat the word 'table' beside every option.)
MrP
00
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".
-> 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".
00
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
\dmc
00
Yes, we'd say (in French)
- catégories: - contacts (because they suppose there will be many)
- ...
(there are many categories, on of them being "contacts")
/or
- catégories de contacts.
(here we are talking about the contacts, and there are many categories of them)
- catégories: - contacts (because they suppose there will be many)
- ...
(there are many categories, on of them being "contacts")
/or
- catégories de contacts.
(here we are talking about the contacts, and there are many categories of them)
00
It's no diffferent to working in a restaurant as a clearer of tables - the table clearer.
00
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
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
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