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Jack112 Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
Plural Noun
What do these mean?
1. These cars have a engine. (Does it mean all these cars have ONE engine? Like one engine for ten cars?)
2. THese cars have engines. (Each car has a engine?)
3. Warning; Hard drives are a sensitive instrument. (This is the one I saw on the packaging. How can many hard drives be ONE senstitive instrument? If it does not mean that, how do you know what it means then? )
3. Warning; Hard drives are sensitive instruments. (Each hard drive is a sensitive instrument?)
Thanks.
1. These cars have a engine. (Does it mean all these cars have ONE engine? Like one engine for ten cars?)
2. THese cars have engines. (Each car has a engine?)
3. Warning; Hard drives are a sensitive instrument. (This is the one I saw on the packaging. How can many hard drives be ONE senstitive instrument? If it does not mean that, how do you know what it means then? )
3. Warning; Hard drives are sensitive instruments. (Each hard drive is a sensitive instrument?)
Thanks.
Top answer
I think we have discussed this before, Jack. Plural nouns normally take plural modifiers, while singular normally take singular. Mixing number is acceptable only when there is no confusion.
- I think we have discussed this before, Jack.
- Plural nouns normally take plural modifiers, while singular normally take singular.
- Mixing number is acceptable only when there is no confusion.
- ) (2) is fine and means what you think it means.
- (3) Packaging (especially if it originates in a country whose native language is not the same as that on the packaging) can often be grammatically incorrect-- even hilarious-- and this first sentence is incorrect.
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4 Answers
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I think we have discussed this before, Jack.
Plural nouns normally take plural modifiers, while singular normally take singular. Mixing number is acceptable only when there is no confusion.
Your (1) has a mistake with the article again, but is possible, since of course there is not only one engine for ten cars, and you should not even consider the possibility (why did y
Plural nouns normally take plural modifiers, while singular normally take singular. Mixing number is acceptable only when there is no confusion.
Your (1) has a mistake with the article again, but is possible, since of course there is not only one engine for ten cars, and you should not even consider the possibility (why did y
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I often see sentences where the object noun or the predicate noun is in disagreement with the subject in number. In most case this kind of imbalanced singular noun is followed by a sentence or clause that explains it. I feel this disagreement would be intentionally used by writers to attract readers' attention to the noun, and I call it "focusing singular", though no mention is made about this in
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Hello Paco
Curiously, all those examples seem to me to have the air of 'explanations for children'. It would be interesting if the 'focusing singular' were especially common in simple explanations.
Number 2 troubles me (the giraffes). Entire tree-top-dwelling ecosystems counted as nothing.
MrP
Curiously, all those examples seem to me to have the air of 'explanations for children'. It would be interesting if the 'focusing singular' were especially common in simple explanations.
Number 2 troubles me (the giraffes). Entire tree-top-dwelling ecosystems counted as nothing.
MrP
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Mr P
You are right!
paco
Number 2 troubles me (the giraffes). Entire tree-top-dwelling ecosystems counted as nothing.
You are right!
paco
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