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OttoJ Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Death

Obama said:

-So much of our turbulent history – the stain of slavery and anguish of civil war, the yoke of segregation and tyranny of Jim Crow, the death of four little girls in Birmingham, and the dream of a Baptist preacher – met on this bridge.

Do you think it is a slip and that the only correct way is to use the plural 'deaths'?
  

Top answer

OttoJ Do you think it is a slip No. In the first place, 'death' is used uncountably and in the second place it was a single terrible incident.

— Mister Micawber

  • OttoJ Do you think it is a slip No.
  • In the first place, 'death' is used uncountably and in the second place it was a single terrible incident.
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5 Answers
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OttoJDo you think it is a slip
No. In the first place, 'death' is used uncountably and in the second place it was a single terrible incident.
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Mister Micawber 'death' is used uncountably
Thank you. So it is correct to say that even when there's more than one who is dead, we can freely use the singular and the plural?

-I read a paper lately on
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OttoJSo it is correct to say that even when there's more than one who is dead, we can freely use the singular and the plural?
Not when you are making a point of various deaths.
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The OALD9th:

make a point of doing somethingEmotion: sadplease tell me if this is not your meaning)

to be or make sure yo
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OttoJto be or make sure you do something because it is important or necessary
Yes.
OttoJDo you mean as long as we don't want to emphasize that it is more than one death that we are talking about, we have a choice as to singular or plural?
No, I mean that as long as it is not obvious that specifically counted deaths are not m
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