Why not make all plural?

Question

Hi. Please tell me if it is correct, in addition to the way it is, to make the underlined words plural?Although they used their own minds, talents, language and  style, they wrote what ...

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Yes, and you can make style plural in any case; languages will work if they really speak different languages (English, French, Scottish English, etc).

Anonymous · Answer

Hi. Thank you for answering my question. I have one more question though: What could be the reason for writing the way it was? I prefer all singular or plural of the words after the word "their" in the subordinate clause (I think it is) that starts with the word "Although." Thank you for your anticipated help.

The part of the sentence in reference:

Although they used their own minds, talents, language and style, they wrote what ...

Mister Micawber · Answer

It is not always necessary, or even desirable, to match singular objects to singular subjects or plural objects to plural subjects. Do so for the sake of parallelism if the meaning is clear and the usage is acceptable, but clarity of meaning (mediated by the reader's common sense) and acceptability are the first considerations.

Here, 'languages' is simply not normally used in plural form unless it refers, as I said, to English, German, Dutch. On the other hand, 'styles' is frequently plural and can refer to those of individuals; ergo, 'languages' is odd in your sentence, and the argument for consistency does not obtain.

There is a way around this, if you insist: use 'ideolects'.

Why not make all plural?

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