Singular/Plural Confusion

Question

Hello,I'm getting confused lately with this singular/plural thing. Let's say I'm a supervillain who wants to blackmail the world leaders. Should I ask for "one hundred billion dollars" or "one hundred billionS dollars"? I've got a feeling it's the former, but why? Also, it's getting more confusing as I think about it. Why two hundred dollars and not two hundredS? But OTOH, hundreds of hundreds of killer vampires? ThousandS of fiery flaming wasps, but six thousand chilly icy wisps?Also, is "All of them have to clean their nose afterwards" (because each of them has only one nose), or "All of them have to clean their noses afterwards" (which sounds like each of them has more than one nose (or is that "more than one noseS"? Argh!)).Thank you Ray

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I'm getting confused lately with this singular/plural thing. Let's say I'm a supervillain who wants to blackmail the world leaders.[/nq]
First remember not to start small by asking for one million.
[nq:1]Should I ask for "one hundred billion dollars" or "one hundred billionS dollars"? I've got a feeling it's the former,[/nq]
Yes.
[nq:1]but why?[/nq]
Because.
[nq:1]Also, it's getting more confusing as I think about it. Why two hundred dollars and not two hundredS?[/nq]
Because.
[nq:1]But OTOH, hundreds of hundreds of killer vampires? ThousandS of fiery flaming wasps, but six thousand chilly icy wisps?[/nq]
The rule is that number words can be pluralized when they're used as nouns, as in the vampire and the first wasp example. When used as part of a number, they're not nouns. Large number words are sometimes used as nouns meaning that many dollars (or US dollars, or pounds, or euros, or whatever), and in that usage they can be pluralized for example, "The government has wasted billions on this silly idea" or "You must pay one hundred billions or I will destroy the 'ozone layer'." On the other hand, the style "you must pay one hundred billion" is also correct, and I think much more common today; in this case the number is being used as an adjective as usual, modifying an implied noun.
[nq:1]Also, is (it) "All of them have to clean their nose afterwards" (because each of them has only one nose), or "All of them have to clean their noses afterwards" (which sounds like each of them has more than one nose...) (?)[/nq]
Correct either way. Some people prefer one, some the other.
[nq:1](or is that "more than one noseS"? Argh!)).[/nq]
No. Although "more than one" is logically a tightly bound unit, the "one" is still attached more tightly to the "nose" for grammatical purposes.
[nq:1]Thank you

[/nq]
Well, you appear not to have a nose at all, there. :-)
Mark Brader "Also, be sure to include your signature TWICE in Toronto each article. That way you're sure people will (Email Removed) read it." "Emily Postnews" (Brad Templeton)

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hello, I'm getting confused lately with this singular/plural thing. Let's say I'm a supervillain who wants to blackmail the world ... hundredS? But OTOH, hundreds of hundreds of killer vampires? ThousandS of fiery flaming wasps, but six thousand chilly icy wisps?[/nq]
Usage has changed from "billions" to "billion". I remember hearing an archive broadcast of a British politician in around 1950 speaking of "millions of pounds" and then eliding this to "millions": "a hundred millions", and so forth. The tenor of the address was the unimaginably large size of "one million" so they didn't even go to billions (which was just as well because, in thoose days, there was stick a distinction between a British billion and an American billion), but the usage would have been the same.
A modern politician would say "we've allocated twenty billion to..." (millions being too small-change to mensch nowadays) but "...we've thrown billions of dollars at..."
[nq:1]Also, is "All of them have to clean their nose afterwards" (because each of them has only one nose), or ... afterwards" (which sounds like each of them has more than one nose (or is that "more than one noseS"? Argh!)).[/nq]
Rather than pursue the unclarities of a less-than-optimally-clear sentence, I suggest re-casting it to "Each of them has to clean its nose afterwards."

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hello, I'm getting confused lately with this singular/plural thing. Let's say I'm a supervillain who wants to blackmail the world ... hundredS? But OTOH, hundreds of hundreds of killer vampires? ThousandS of fiery flaming wasps, but six thousand chilly icy wisps?[/nq]
You are Gordon Brown!
In his latest budget he committed the twin linguistic evils of saying several "..billions" and "one pence".
He also drifted aimlessly betwen AmE and BrE for the pronunciation of years, at one point representing last year as both "two thousand and four" and "two thousand four" in the same sentence!
Ida Goode-Johnson

Usenet · Answer

Thanks Mark! You've made it much clearer to me now :^)

Usenet · Answer

Thanks, er, Father. Out of curiosity, is Father your first name or are you a Catholic (or some other faith that has Fathers as well) priest?

Usenet · Answer

MM hmmm. I don't even know what you're talking about...

Usenet · Answer

Ray turpitued:
[nq:1]Thanks, er, Father. Out of curiosity, is Father your first name or are you a Catholic (or some other faith that has Fathers as well) priest?[/nq]
I used to have a similar confusion with Truly Donovan. ("Not just any folk singer; I'm the real McCoy.") Fortunately I figured it out in time.

Peter Moylan peter at ee dot newcastle dot edu dot au http://eepjm.newcastle.edu.au (OS/2 and eCS information and software)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I'm getting confused lately with this singular/plural thing. Let's say I'm a supervillain who wants to blackmail the world leaders. ... but why? Also, it's getting more confusing as I think about it. Why two hundred dollars and not two hundredS?[/nq]
About that last point. When a noun is used like an adjective also called "attributive" then we usually use the singular.

A horse race (even though many horses participate) A key ring (even though many keys may be on the ring) A ticket collector (who collects many tickets)
"Hundred" and "thousand" can play the same sort of role.

Best Donna Richoux

Singular/Plural Confusion

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions