Questions tagged [grammatical-number]

This tag applies to questions that deal with grammatical number: “singular” versus “plural”, and (rarely) also “dual”.

This tag applies to questions that deal with grammatical number, meaning singular (he), plural (they), and in some cases, dual (both of them).

These questions may also involve number agreement within a sentence; for example, singular (“The car is without control.”) and plural (“Our neighbors are going in Hawaii for a vacation.”).

See also

3096 questions
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Plural form of 'schema'

Schema appears to have two plural forms that are both valid: schemata and schemas. Are they completely interchangeable; or are there any guidelines on which one is appropriate for particular contexts?
Alok
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41
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2 answers

Plural of "syntax"

What is the plural of syntax? Would it be syntacies? What rule would govern this kind of construction?
40
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4 answers

What is the plural form of "Software"?

Is it correct to use softwares, as in the following sentence? There are various video conversion softwares in the market.
23
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2 answers

What is the plural of proof of concept? Is it proofs of concept, proof of concepts or proofs of concepts?

Can someone please clarify what is the plural form of proof of concept? Is it proofs of concept, proof of concepts or proofs of concepts?
Gwyn
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23
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5 answers

Why are the words hundred, thousand, million, and trillion singular after plural numbers?

Can anyone give a grammatical explanation why the words hundred, thousand, million, and trillion are singular after plural numbers? For example, why can't we say three hundreds or 4 thousands or five millions, etc? One of my students asked me and…
22
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7 answers

What is the plural of "equipment"?

What is the plural form of the word "equipment"? Is the word "equipment" singular? Context: for tools/objects
user20934
21
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5 answers

"What an idiot!" in plural form

There is a phrase "What an idiot!". How should it be used for a group of people? Looks like "What idiots" doesn't have same emotional meaning.
21
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3 answers

What's the correct plural of "Raspberry Pi"?

What is the correct way to pluralize a proper noun like "Raspberry Pi" (a type of small, inexpensive computer)? Would you say: This project uses two Raspberry Pis This project uses two Raspberry Pi's This project uses two “Raspberry Pi”s None of…
Nathan Long
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19
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5 answers

What is the plural of "chewing gum"?

What's the plural of "chewing gum"? Hearing "do you have any chewing gums?" sounds wrong; I would say "do you have any chewing gum?", but looking it up, there seems to be a bit of confusion on Google. Some results indicate that "chewing gums" is…
simont
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19
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4 answers

Which is correct, Credential or Credentials?

Is singular correct, or is plural of "credential" correct for a single username & password pair?
Samuel
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17
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3 answers

"This kind of things" vs "These kinds of thing"

I have a question about the following text: Last week Alex Knapp at Forbes published an article criticizing my Nikola Tesla comic. I don't normally respond to these kinds of thing, but since it's' Forbes I figured a proper response was in order.…
Axonn
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17
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3 answers

How to treat a country name that has a plural meaning

I was wondering if there was a sentence that contains a country name (or generally a proper noun) that has a plural word in it - e.g., the United States or The United Emirates - how do we treat it? (Sorry if I sound non-technical, as I'm not exactly…
17
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4 answers

Is "each and every one of you" singular or plural?

Is each and every one of you singular or plural? I searched this subject and found a similar post here but I just want to confirm.
Yousui
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17
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What's the correct plural form of "premise"?

Someone criticized me for using the word "premises" to denote a set of assumed "propositions", due to its connotation with houses and buildings. Is that correct? If so, what should be the proper plural form of "premise"?
17
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2 answers

What is the plural of "How To"?

On a list of "How To" articles, should the title be "How Tos" or "How To's"? I think "How Tos" is technically correct (no apostrophe for plurals) but it reads like "How Toss" or "How Toes". "How To's", while incorrect (I think), seems more…
Dhaust
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