Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Rock]

Ran into a quandary the other day. Do you say "My favorite fruit is apples," or "My favorite fruit is an apple?"

Moreover, how about this: "What fruit do you like the best?" "I like watermelon the best." Or, "What fruit do you like the best?" "I like watermelons the best."

My teachers here stated that ". . .apples"/". . . watermelons the best" are the correct answers.

[icicle]

[seoulsteve]

I had similar issues with "my favorite animal is..."

I looked it up, and, grammatically speaking, the correct thing would be "My favorite animal is the dog" I guess it would be the same with fruit: "My favorite fruit is the apple."

Of course, people don't always use perfect grammar when they speak. I think I usually say "My favorite animals are dogs." and "My favorite fruit are apples." Fruit sounds really strange because the singular and plural forms are the same.

[icicle]

[jaredbahama]

i think this is correct: "My favorite fruit is apple"

it sounds a bit funky, but then i substituted another fruit: "My favorite fruit is pineapple"

that sounds better. to me, at least.

maybe there is an implied 'fruit' at the end of the sentence. "My favorite fruit is apple [fruit]".


btw, my favorite liquor is whisky.

[icicle]

[quote="jaredbahama"]i think this is correct: "My favorite fruit is apple"

it sounds a bit funky, but then i substituted another fruit: "My favorite fruit is pineapple"

that sounds better. to me, at least.

quote]

I agree with you on pineapple ... but the problem with this question in general I think is that some fruit sound better to me in plural form and some sound better to me in singular form.

I would say : My favourite fruit is apples. My favourite fruit is oranges. My favourite fruit is grapes. My favourite fruit is mangoes.

But I would also say: My favourite fruit is watermelon. My favourite fruit is pineapple. My favourite fruit is rockmelon.

The only link I can find between the ones which sound better (to me at least) in singular form are all fruit that we usually only eat part of at the one time.

Icicle.

[seoulsteve]

The whole favorite animal thing came up at my school a couple months ago. I work at a public school and have lots of free time and, well, lets just say I spent more time thinking about this than most people.

The official answer that I found in an English usage book was that you say, "My favorite animal is the..."

But, like I said, if you change it to the plural form ("My favorite animals are ...s" then I think it's still ok.

I'm pretty sure any sentence that mixes plural and singular form is incorrect, like "My favorite animals is cats"

Anyway, I'm glad I'm not the only one who wonders about these things.


And, my favorite liquor is also whisky.

[icicle]

[quote="seoulsteve"]The whole favorite animal thing came up at my school a couple months ago. I work at a public school and have lots of free time and, well, lets just say I spent more time thinking about this than most people.

quote]

It must be that time of year ... I had the afternoon off today because school exams meant a half day ... as it had for the last two days ... my posting levels do rise on days like this ...

Icicle