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Tinanam0102 Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Plural form: Agonies
Hi teachers,
Would you help me with two examples of "agony" entry in the dictionary:
Excerpt A: They went through the agonies of war and famine.
Excerpt B: The football fans cheered the winning team with agonies of wild joy.
1. In Excerpt A, could I know if the use of "agonies" called for is because there are two types of agonies, war and famine?
2. In Excerpt B, why agonies, the plural is used? If the sentence were: One of the football fans cheered the winning team with an agony of wild joy, would it be grammatical? Thanks.
Regards,
TN
Would you help me with two examples of "agony" entry in the dictionary:
Excerpt A: They went through the agonies of war and famine.
Excerpt B: The football fans cheered the winning team with agonies of wild joy.
1. In Excerpt A, could I know if the use of "agonies" called for is because there are two types of agonies, war and famine?
2. In Excerpt B, why agonies, the plural is used? If the sentence were: One of the football fans cheered the winning team with an agony of wild joy, would it be grammatical? Thanks.
Regards,
TN
Top answer
1-- No, war and famine each produce many agonies: pain, loneliness, hunger, thirst, despair, fear, etc. 2-- No, that is not the point. When used as a plural, 'agonies' suggests that there are many involved, as I indicated above.
- 1-- No, war and famine each produce many agonies: pain, loneliness, hunger, thirst, despair, fear, etc.
- 2-- No, that is not the point.
- When used as a plural, 'agonies' suggests that there are many involved, as I indicated above.
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4 Answers
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1-- No, war and famine each produce many agonies: pain, loneliness, hunger, thirst, despair, fear, etc.
2-- No, that is not the point. When used as a plural, 'agonies' suggests that there are many involved, as I indicated above.
2-- No, that is not the point. When used as a plural, 'agonies' suggests that there are many involved, as I indicated above.
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Hi Mister Micawber,
"The football fans cheered the winning team with agonies of wild joy." - When used as a plural, "agonies" suggests that there are many involved.
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Excerpts from Yourdictionary.com
Would the following examples carry only one singular kind of "agony"? (I apologize for some of insensitive sentences in advance.)
"The football fans cheered the winning team with agonies of wild joy." - When used as a plural, "agonies" suggests that there are many involved.
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Excerpts from Yourdictionary.com
Would the following examples carry only one singular kind of "agony"? (I apologize for some of insensitive sentences in advance.)
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Yes, defining the agony ('of defeat', etc) helps make the singular a reasonable choice. Keep in mind that it is really the writer's choice-- a real agony is a complex emotion and can be viewed as either one great feeling or a medley of feelings, I think.
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