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Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

plural and singular nouns in the same sentence

Hello
My questions are about a list of nouns in a sentence
Is there any formal or unwritten rule for the order of plural and singular nouns in a list?
For example
My neighbour has a dog, hens, a donkey, cows and a pig.
Should I put all the singular nouns first or last and if I put them together do they all need an article or just the first singular noun?
Appreciate any help
Thanks
Jake
  

Top answer

Primarily, try to order them with the most importance. " However if things are of the same importance, I tend to order things by the musical rhythm or sound they make when they are spoken, and you can create variety by alternating singulars and plurals so they feel random, and mix exciting items into the mundane. If you put all the singulars together and all the plurals together it's going to sound odd when the list is long.

— Meteorquake

  • Primarily, try to order them with the most importance.
  • " However if things are of the same importance, I tend to order things by the musical rhythm or sound they make when they are spoken, and you can create variety by alternating singulars and plurals so they feel random, and mix exciting items into the mundane.
  • If you put all the singulars together and all the plurals together it's going to sound odd when the list is long.
  • When the list is long enough you can break it up with connected items joined by 'and's and also semicolons or other punctuation to provide variety so it's not a long list, eg - I have a pig, a dog and a cat, a mouse, a donkey and a horse; and I have a hen.
  • Sometimes you might want to leave the most surprising one to the end, or put it in where you think the list is least exciting - "and I have a pet tarantula".
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2 Answers
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Primarily, try to order them with the most importance. You can see this easily with money when you say, "I have five pounds and three pence."
However if things are of the same importance, I tend to order things by the musical rhythm or sound they make when they are spoken, and you can create variety by alternating singulars and plurals so they feel random, and mix exciting items into the munda
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Thank you D very much for your easy to understand answer. I really appreciate it.
Jake
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