Mixing plural and singular in a sentence

Question

Hi There,
I was always wondering, how to mix plurals and singulars in a sentence. Is there a specific rule? I am always confused.. The example is:

The graph above lists the countries with greater rates than the average.

Here "the countries with a greater rate than the average" is right
or
"the countries with greater rates than the average" is right?

Please let me know if there is a special rule I can apply when writing this kind of sentenses.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

imchakanIs there a specific rule?

No.

imchakanI am always confused.

You're not the only one. There are often multiple correct solutions to the problem.

imchakanThe graph above lists the countries with greater rates than the average.Here "the countries with a greater rate than the average" is right or "the countries with greater rates than the average" is right?

I would not use "the" with "average" in this kind of sentence. Just "than average" is fine.

Here I think it depends very much on how many rates are listed for each country. If there is exactly one rate on the graph for each country, then "with a greater rate than average" is the correct version. If there is more than one rate for each country, then you need "with greater rates than average".

CJ

Imchakan · Answer

<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>Thank you very much! That helped a lot!!

Mixing plural and singular in a sentence

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