English Language Learners Stack Exchange
English Language Learners Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [singular-vs-plural]

For questions about the difference between singular and plural forms of a word; when they should be used, or the difference between them.

1303 questions
34
votes
5 answers

Why do we say "How much XP" and not "How many XP"?

XP (Experience Point) is a term particularly used in gaming. Should I use much or many in this context? Adam: 'I killed the boss! I got 100 XP!' Alex: 'Great, how ___(many/much) XP have you got?' Google says to use "how much". According to the app…
user516076
  • 5,012
  • 2
  • 31
  • 69
23
votes
5 answers

When do we use "no women" instead of "no woman"?

When do we use "no women" instead of "no woman"? I thought we used "no woman" instead of "no women" by default, but it seems that some people do use "no women". Is there a situation where one is preferred over the other, or are both phrases…
Sayaman
  • 13,509
  • 17
  • 95
  • 224
15
votes
3 answers

Plural subject + Linking Verb + Singular predicate nominative

All people are a mystery. Since the subject is plural, should the the predicate nominative mystery be also plural? And would the meaning still be the same? As in All people are mysteries. How about the following? All people are a phenomenon. All…
Sherlock
  • 669
  • 6
  • 12
  • 20
15
votes
1 answer

When 'business' means 'company,' is it a countable noun?

This is from The Washington Post article : What's a company to do? In today's litigious and document-deluged workplace, a poorly written manual can lead to liability suits and even low-risk decisions are justified by streams of memos. One solution…
qna
  • 403
  • 10
13
votes
2 answers

"Each of them is" or "each of them are"?

Should I use the plural form of verb for each or the single form? Example: Each of them are used for different purposes. Each of them is used for different purposes.
NaSh
  • 233
  • 1
  • 2
  • 6
13
votes
3 answers

The sentence is talking about "a candidate" and "an election", why does it use the plural form "chances"?

The following sentence comes from "Introduction to Algorithms, 3rd Edition By Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest and Clifford Stein" A political candidate may want to determine where to spend money buying campaign advertising…
WXJ96163
  • 3,049
  • 7
  • 44
  • 111
13
votes
3 answers

"Is that" vs. "are those" in questions regarding plurality

I think it's clear that the following two sentences are grammatical: Is that a cup I see? Are those cups I see? However, what if you seek to inquire as to how many cups you can see? Is that one cup or two cups I see? Are those one cup or two cups…
lightweaver
  • 481
  • 3
  • 7
  • 16
11
votes
4 answers

dynamics: singular or plural

Does the word dynamics take a verb in singular or plural form? In Google search, it looks like both are equally used. For example, which one is more appropriate? Population dynamics is influenced by a number of factors. Population dynamics are…
quibble
  • 847
  • 4
  • 12
  • 21
11
votes
1 answer

Should I write mobile phone or mobile phones

I am writing a sentence about the history of mobile phone, but I am not sure whether I should use a singular or plural noun, I think mobile phones were invented to make our lives more stressful. I think mobile phone was invented to make our lives…
kitty
  • 5,585
  • 29
  • 79
  • 123
10
votes
2 answers

Is "A number of..." plural or singular?

Is the following sentence correct? A number of researchers are expected to attend the conference Notice that the sentence is using the plural verb "are" after "researchers" but I don't know if it needs the singular verb "is" instead, since it says…
Manuel Hernandez
  • 1,139
  • 8
  • 22
  • 39
10
votes
6 answers

Why "clothespin" and not "clothpin"?

It is "pencil sharpener, can opener, ghost buster" but not "pencils sharpener, cans opener, ghosts buster" etc. So it should be "clothpin" or "cloth pin" but not "clothespin" (which is also difficult to say). All the more you don't usually pin more…
Pierre ALBARÈDE
  • 209
  • 1
  • 6
10
votes
6 answers

Is it correct to say "0 hours"?

Spanish uses the singular to refer to one and the plural to refer more than one or zero of something. Is the same for material things and other abstract concepts, for example, time measures: hours, minutes, seconds... Examples: Tengo 1 hora libre. …
Orici
  • 247
  • 1
  • 2
  • 8
9
votes
4 answers

My family ( is / are ) all doctors

I understand that "family" is usually followed by a singular verb in American English, but how about the sentence in the title? Is it ok to say "My family is all doctors." in AE?
George
  • 303
  • 2
  • 5
  • 8
9
votes
2 answers

Zero rupees or zero rupee on the note?

5th Pillar is an NGO fighting against the corruption in India. As a part of non-cooperation movement against corruption, it has come up with a zero rupee note. Here is its image: Now, my question is: Should we write 'zero rupees' or 'zero rupee'?…
Rucheer M
  • 3,810
  • 14
  • 38
  • 75
9
votes
6 answers

"of any sorts" vs "of any sort"

Given this sentence: I started using it to document the system (we didn’t have documentations of any sorts) and create our regression tests. Concerning the part marked in bold, which would be the correct way to write it, of any sort or of any…
victorkt
  • 197
  • 1
  • 2
  • 8
1
2 3
…
29 30