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Gane456 Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Singular or Plural?

I always confuse with singular and plural.

1.They got a chance/chances.

Chance or chances? They is plural. So it SHOULD be
"chances", am I right?

2.All people got a job/jobs.

All people here is plural. So "jobs" is correct, right?
  

Top answer

Gane456 They is plural. So it SHOULD be "chances", am I right? No.

— CalifJim

  • Gane456 They is plural.
  • So it SHOULD be "chances", am I right?
  • No.
  • A married couple may have a chance to buy a new house, for example.
  • They (two people) have a chance (one chance).
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8 Answers
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Gane456They is plural. So it SHOULD be "chances", am I right?
No. A married couple may have a chance to buy a new house, for example.
They (two people) have a chance (one chance).

In short, it's 'chance' or 'chances' based on the number of chances, not on the number of people represented by "they".
Gane456All people got a
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Thank you. What about the following?

All students should come with their identity card/cards to college.
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CalifJimNo. A married couple may have a chance to buy a new house, for example. They (two people) have a chance (one chance).
What if they are not a couple?
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CalifJim[All of them / They (all)] have a job.~ Each person has one job.[All of them / They (all)] have jobs. ~ Each person has one job.[All of them / They (all)] have jobs. ~ Each person has more than one job.
I seem to be confused. 2 and 3 sentences are same but difference meanings?

So are 1 and 2 sentences which are same in meaning but different.
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Gane456I seem to be confused. 2 and 3 sentences are same but difference meanings? So are 1 and 2 sentences which are same in meaning but different.
Each person has exactly one job:
1. All of them have a job.
2. They all have a job.

Each person has at least one job. But one or more of them can have more than one job.
1. All of them have
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Gane456What if they are not a couple?
A couple = two people
A married couple = two people who are married to each other
An unmarried couple = two people who are not married to each other
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Gane456Thank you. What about the following?All students should come with their identity card/cards to college.
You have asked a similar or the same question before.

"identity card" because each student has an identity card.

"identity cards" if the college requires each student to bring more than one identity card.
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CalifJim However, all is more ambiguous with the plural object.
CJ was pointing out that if you use "All [subject] and a plural object, your reader doesn't know if each person has one or each person has more than one.

If you use the singular object, you are saying that each one of the subjects has one of the object.
All students should bring their
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