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Endy1980 Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
They/their + plural/singular noun ???
I often get confused about plural pronoun when it's being combined with a noun. When to use singular noun and when to use plural noun? For example:
Adam lives in Asia, Albert lives in Europe
They live in different continent -- OR --
They live in different continents
The temperature is so cold that their nose freezes -- OR --
The temperature is so cold that their noses freeze
I'm quite confused about the nose, for example. A person only has one nose. Two people or more only have one nose each. So should we say 'their nose' or 'their noses' ??? I was told that both versions are correct depending on the usage. But I still don't understand.
Adam lives in Asia, Albert lives in Europe
They live in different continent -- OR --
They live in different continents
The temperature is so cold that their nose freezes -- OR --
The temperature is so cold that their noses freeze
I'm quite confused about the nose, for example. A person only has one nose. Two people or more only have one nose each. So should we say 'their nose' or 'their noses' ??? I was told that both versions are correct depending on the usage. But I still don't understand.
Top answer
" (many people, one car) I don't agree with the advice you were given that both versions of the "nose" sentence are correct. ) "The temperature is so cold that their nose freezes" sounds plain wrong to me. Edit: There are cases when "their nose" sounds more acceptable.
- " (many people, one car) I don't agree with the advice you were given that both versions of the "nose" sentence are correct.
- ) "The temperature is so cold that their nose freezes" sounds plain wrong to me.
- Edit: There are cases when "their nose" sounds more acceptable.
- These are cases when you aren't drawing attention to individual noses, but are describing something that happens to noses generally or using an idiomatic expression.
- For example: "People shouldn't blow their nose so loudly", "Birds follow their nose when flying south".
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1 Answers
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If there's more than one thing in total then you should use the plural:
"They live in different continents." (many people, many continents)
"They live in a different continent." (many people, one continent)
"The temperature is so cold that their noses freeze." (many people, many noses)
"The temperature was so cold that their car
"They live in different continents." (many people, many continents)
"They live in a different continent." (many people, one continent)
"The temperature is so cold that their noses freeze." (many people, many noses)
"The temperature was so cold that their car
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