Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[yoshi-pooh]

Dear all,
In the pairs below, which do you think is better to descibe dogs?

A. Dogs have a tail.
B. Dogs have tails.

I think both are OK, but it seems like B is more commonly used.

A. Dogs have a tail and four legs.
B. Dogs have tails and four legs.

In this pair, A looks better because B can mean dogs have more than one tail.

Do you think my guesses are correct?

Thank you!

Yoshi-pooh

[mescalero]

yoshi-pooh:

A. Dogs have a tail.
B. Dogs have tails.

I would agree that both are OK. However, I think that if you want to be completely accurate you could say, "Every dog has one tail."

A. Dogs have a tail and four legs.
B. Dogs have tails and four legs.

Again, both are OK. But to be accurate, you might say, "Every dog has one tail and four legs."

Good luck!!!!
_________________
- Mike

Open English World
http://www.openenglishworld.com

[yoshi-pooh]

Hi, Mike

Thanks for your reply. I feel my English is getting better and better by posting questions to this site.

Regards,

Satoru

[worksmart]

Me too.

I think this site has been a great help to me.

And yoshi-pooh, I like your questions because I have the same problems too.