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Christine Christie Posted 3 years ago
Grammar

Couple

Can the term 'couple' be used for animals?


And by this, I mean two animals, supposedly a male and female?


If so, which is correct?


"While we were lying on the park, a couple of swans came from the water and approached us."


"While we were lying on the park, a swans couple came from the water and approached us."



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THANK YOU.


  

Top answer

And by this, I mean two animals, supposedly a male and female? Not really, but informally as anthromorphism it is possible. The main problem is that "couple" means nothing more than "two" in most cases.

— Anonymous

  • And by this, I mean two animals, supposedly a male and female?
  • Not really, but informally as anthromorphism it is possible.
  • The main problem is that "couple" means nothing more than "two" in most cases.
  • A couple of swans is not a mating pair, it is simply two swans, but among people who think of swans as mates for life, you could say that the swans paddled across the lake in couples with some hope of being understood to mean that they went two-by-two, cob and pen.
  • " in the park "Swans couple" is unidiomatic, so the question of the suitability of "couple" is moot.
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2 Answers
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Christine ChristieCan the term 'couple' be used for animals?And by this, I mean two animals, supposedly a male and female?

Not really, but informally as anthromorphism it is possible. The main problem is that "couple" means nothing more than "two" in most cases. A couple of swans is not a mating pair, it is simply two swans, but among people who think of sw

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Christine ChristieAnd by this, I mean two animals,

Yes, couple means 2 of anything. 

There are a couple of donuts left over from breakfast.
Pull up a couple of chairs. There are two more people coming for dinner.
I like most of my teachers, but there are a couple that that I don't like because they give too much homework
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