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Ladybird25 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

The price of books

Hi,

"The price of books has changed a great deal over the years."

Why is the "price" here in the singular?

My dictionary says "price" is a countable noun.

As the "books" is in plural, can I say "prices" instead of "price"?

If you can use "prices", which is correct?

1. The prices of books have changed ...

2. Prices of books have changed ...

Thank you very much for your help.
  

Top answer

When talking about book prices in general they're both ok.

— Ivanhr

  • When talking about book prices in general they're both ok.
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6 Answers
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When talking about book prices in general they're both ok.
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I see... Thank you so much for your reply!

If these three sentences are correct, which is the most common to use?

1. The price of books has changed a great deal over the years.

2. The prices of books have changed ...

3. Prices of books have changed ...

Thanks again!
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No idea really, even though I'd say that book prices is just as common as (the) price(s) of books.
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To me, "changed" actually meant " increased" here, and the author of the sentence had in mind a single "subject" -the increasing Price which has gone up over the years. Although different books have different prices, they all ended up being "increased". So for # 1 the singular perspective: The price of books has changed a great deal over the years is ok.

# 2 appea
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ladybird25The price of books has changed a great deal over the years."
Why is the "price" here in the singular?
It is singular because it is speaking of an average (or other measure) of one category (books), not specific individual books.

But compare with these:

Book prices have increased an average of 6% over the last year. (It
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Thank you all for the detailed answers.

They helped a lot!
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