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Optimus Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
Singular/Plural
0 Hello. 02 br
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00 I was reading an article on yahoo.com, and I came across the following sentence: 02 br
00 "Several reporters shook their head." 02 br
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00 Does the above sentence seem natural to you? In my native language, we always use a singular form when referring to a collection of objects that all members of a group possess and each member has only one such object. For example, say, each member of a group owns a sword. Then, we'd say "They raised their sword," not "They raised their swords." 02 br
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00 At first, sentences like "They scratched their heads" sounded odd to me. It seemed to suggest each person had more than one head. But I had come to accept it as grammatically correct and thought that you only use a singular form when otherwise it leads to ambiguity. For instance, if a certain machine is equipped with one cooling fan, sentences such as "these machines come with cooling fans" might be construed as either i) each one has only one fan or ii) each one has multiple fans. To obviate this ambiguity, you could say "these machines come with a cooling fan." 02 br
02 br
00 But now I'm not sure which is the norm. "heads" or head"? 02 br
02 br
00 I'd appreciate your input. 02 br
00 Thank you 0-
02 br
00 I was reading an article on yahoo.com, and I came across the following sentence: 02 br
00 "Several reporters shook their head." 02 br
02 br
00 Does the above sentence seem natural to you? In my native language, we always use a singular form when referring to a collection of objects that all members of a group possess and each member has only one such object. For example, say, each member of a group owns a sword. Then, we'd say "They raised their sword," not "They raised their swords." 02 br
02 br
00 At first, sentences like "They scratched their heads" sounded odd to me. It seemed to suggest each person had more than one head. But I had come to accept it as grammatically correct and thought that you only use a singular form when otherwise it leads to ambiguity. For instance, if a certain machine is equipped with one cooling fan, sentences such as "these machines come with cooling fans" might be construed as either i) each one has only one fan or ii) each one has multiple fans. To obviate this ambiguity, you could say "these machines come with a cooling fan." 02 br
02 br
00 But now I'm not sure which is the norm. "heads" or head"? 02 br
02 br
00 I'd appreciate your input. 02 br
00 Thank you 0-
Top answer
0 According to Swan, 01 i 00 we do not normally use a singular noun in the sense of 'one each' after a plural possessive 02 i 00 . 0-
- 0 According to Swan, 01 i 00 we do not normally use a singular noun in the sense of 'one each' after a plural possessive 02 i 00 .
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1 Answers
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0 According to Swan, 01 i 00 we do not normally use a singular noun in the sense of 'one each' after a plural possessive 02 i 00 . However, I would think that this guideline would be abandoned if confusion set in. 02 br
02 br
00 Therefore, 01 i 00 they shook their heads, kissed their wives, and left their houses 02 i 00 . 0-
02 br
00 Therefore, 01 i 00 they shook their heads, kissed their wives, and left their houses 02 i 00 . 0-
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