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growlingrrrl
Joined: 23 Jan 2006
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 Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:06 pm Post subject: grammar gurus please answer my question! |
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Hi all-
I did not know the best way to answer this question...
"Do you know how many types of sharks there are?
Yes. There are more than 250 types of shark".
Why is shark singular in the second sentence but not the first? Or should it be singular in the first sentence as well?
Thank you very much in advance... |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:39 pm Post subject: Re: grammar gurus please answer my question! |
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| growlingrrrl wrote: |
Hi all-
I did not know the best way to answer this question...
"Do you know how many types of sharks there are?
Yes. There are more than 250 types of shark".
Why is shark singular in the second sentence but not the first? Or should it be singular in the first sentence as well?
Thank you very much in advance... |
The second sentence clarifies how many. It refers to 250 individual types, each of which is singular. 'Sharks' in the first sentence refers to all the types together. |
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The Cosmic Hum
Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Sonic Space
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| Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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hmm...I get the feeling that this could be a regional thing...
but..if you are going to use sharks in the first...then sharks in the second would be better...or just shark in both...and pass it off as parallelism...  |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:17 pm Post subject: Re: grammar gurus please answer my question! |
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| growlingrrrl wrote: |
Hi all-
I did not know the best way to answer this question...
"Do you know how many types of sharks there are?
Yes. There are more than 250 types of shark".
Why is shark singular in the second sentence but not the first? Or should it be singular in the first sentence as well?
Thank you very much in advance... |
Call me an idiot, but shouldn't "shark" in the last sentence also be plural?
Take this example:
Do you know how many types of animals there are?
Yes. There are more than 250 types of animal?
See what I mean? "Shark" is not a non-count noun and it is being generalized. So, it must take the plural "s" inflectional morpheme.
It seems as though either form can be used, but, I am not totally sure.
Ask Woland, he'll be able to clear it up. |
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Mosley
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:13 pm Post subject: |
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| To me, it's clear as a bell: "sharks" should be plural in the second sentence as well. |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Mosley wrote: |
| To me, it's clear as a bell: "sharks" should be plural in the second sentence as well. |
Yeah, on second glance you're right. |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:22 am Post subject: |
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| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
| Mosley wrote: |
| To me, it's clear as a bell: "sharks" should be plural in the second sentence as well. |
Yeah, on second glance you're right. |
ok...because I thought I was having a brain fart. |
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BS.Dos.
Joined: 29 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:15 am Post subject: |
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I'd have to say singular in both.
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How many types of Shark are there?
There are more than 250 types of Shark |
Hammerhead, Blue and White are all types of Shark, not types of Sharks
Isn't Shark the species (singular). Type the genus (plural) ?
...or, is fish the species and Shark the genus?
Last edited by BS.Dos. on Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:31 am; edited 1 time in total |
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yawarakaijin
Joined: 08 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:31 am Post subject: |
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Does it have something to do with the kind of noun it is?
I like many types of bread. OK I like many types of breads. OK
I like many types of meat. OK I like many types of meats. OK
I like many types of car. (strange?) I like many types of cars. OK
I like many types of cat? (sounds like you are eating cat) |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:35 am Post subject: |
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| WOLAND...WHERE ARE YOU? |
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Woland
Joined: 10 May 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:12 am Post subject: |
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Earning a living, what'd ya think? Someone has to pay Pak Yu Man for washing my socks.
BS.Dos. is on the right track here, I think. You can use either singular or plural in either sentence. The use of singular is treating the label as some kind of superordinate class marker. It makes you sound 'science-y'. The use of the plural sounds like ordinary speech. The important thing, then, is to ask people how they want to sound, and to make a case for consistency. |
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Pak Yu Man
Joined: 02 Jun 2005
Location: The Ida galaxy
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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| BS.Dos. wrote: |
I'd have to say singular in both.
| Quote: |
How many types of Shark are there?
There are more than 250 types of Shark |
Hammerhead, Blue and White are all types of Shark, not types of Sharks
Isn't Shark the species (singular). Type the genus (plural) ?
...or, is fish the species and Shark the genus? |
I believe shark would be the familly...then hammerhead shark (whatever it's real name) would be it's genus and species. |
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