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OttoJ Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

Sound

eg She heard the sound of footsteps outside.
eg I like the different sounds and smells of the forest.


Is the plural optional? Is there any difference?:
-I heard the sound(s) of my ringing mobile phone.

Usually the ringing of phones is repeated, so there should be many sounds, but the example sentence above uses the singular form, though footsteps must produce more than one sound. Could you help me, please?
  

Top answer

OttoJ Is the plural optional? No. One sound, two sounds—how many sounds are involved in each case?

— Mister Micawber

  • OttoJ Is the plural optional?
  • No.
  • One sound, two sounds—how many sounds are involved in each case?
  • OttoJ Usually the ringing of phones is repeated, so there should be many sounds, No; that is just one sound, repeated.
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3 Answers
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OttoJIs the plural optional?
No. One sound, two sounds—how many sounds are involved in each case?
OttoJUsually the ringing of phones is repeated, so there should be many sounds,
No; that is just one sound, repeated.
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Mister Micawberthat is just one sound, repeated.
Thank you~

If the ring tone is Do Re Mi repeated, can I say there are three sounds and say:

-I heard the sounds of the ringing phone. (singular form not admissible?
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OttoJIf the ring tone is Do Re Mi repeated, can I say there are three sounds and say:-I heard the sounds of the ringing phone. (singular form not admissible?
One could probably make an argument for the plural, but I think what MM has advised makes more sense. For example, we would say that a doorbell makes the sound (singular) of "ding-dong" even though there
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