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Guest Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
Singular or plural?
Hello! I'm am wondering what the correct sentence would be when I want to say:
Children commonly wear carnation(s) on the/their chest(?)
Cats like to chase their tails.(?)
I'd appreciate if you can give an explanation why. Thank you in advance.
Children commonly wear carnation(s) on the/their chest(?)
Cats like to chase their tails.(?)
I'd appreciate if you can give an explanation why. Thank you in advance.
Top answer
Children ... carnations on their chests. (on their lapels, shirts, suits ...
- Children ...
- carnations on their chests.
- (on their lapels, shirts, suits ...
- might be better) Cats like to chase their tails.
- The explanation is that children (more than one child) would have chests (more than one chest).
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4 Answers
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Children ... carnations on their chests. (on their lapels, shirts, suits ... might be better)
Cats like to chase their tails.
The explanation is that children (more than one child) would have chests (more than one chest). Both are plural.
Likewise, cats (more than one cat) would have tails (more than one tail). Both are plural.
Cats like to chase their tails.
The explanation is that children (more than one child) would have chests (more than one chest). Both are plural.
Likewise, cats (more than one cat) would have tails (more than one tail). Both are plural.
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Thank you for the reply. (I finally found my ID and password... 
)
I was thinking of generalizations, no specific children o
)I was thinking of generalizations, no specific children o
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"Cats like to chase its tail" will not do at all!!! 
-- unless the cats are chasing the dog's tail, for example.
-- unless the cats are chasing the dog's tail, for example. 00
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