Talk:Plural: Difference between revisions
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imported>Robert Thorpe No edit summary |
imported>John Stephenson (Rewrite, and plural verbs) |
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==Plural verbs== | |||
What would be an example of a plural verb? --[[User:Robert W King|Robert W King]] 10:07, 14 October 2007 (CDT) | What would be an example of a plural verb? --[[User:Robert W King|Robert W King]] 10:07, 14 October 2007 (CDT) | ||
:Look in the brackets... - [[User:Robert Thorpe|Robert Thorpe]] 12:59, 14 October 2007 (CDT) | :Look in the brackets... - [[User:Robert Thorpe|Robert Thorpe]] 12:59, 14 October 2007 (CDT) | ||
::You could argue this for other languages but not for English. Most of the time verbs aren't inflected for number, and the only systematic exception is the third person singular -s - which is obviously not plural. Verbs like 'are' are exceptions, and can be used to denote the singular depending on context - e.g. 'you are' could be either, and 'they are' can be singular for many speakers. [[User:John Stephenson|John Stephenson]] 09:10, 22 October 2007 (CDT) | |||
==Rewrite== | |||
I have rewritten a lot of this, deleting some sections which I felt did not approach a complete picture. For example, the original version ([http://en.citizendium.org/wiki?title=Plural&diff=100192433&oldid=100187680 compare] to begin with defined 'plural' in terms of English -s and nouns alone, whereas in fact it's just one manifestation of the grammatical category of number, and obviously applies to more languages than just English. I also removed the stuff about plural verbs (see above), and tried to emphasise number in other languages. [[User:John Stephenson|John Stephenson]] 09:10, 22 October 2007 (CDT) | |||
Revision as of 08:10, 22 October 2007
Plural verbs
What would be an example of a plural verb? --Robert W King 10:07, 14 October 2007 (CDT)
- Look in the brackets... - Robert Thorpe 12:59, 14 October 2007 (CDT)
- You could argue this for other languages but not for English. Most of the time verbs aren't inflected for number, and the only systematic exception is the third person singular -s - which is obviously not plural. Verbs like 'are' are exceptions, and can be used to denote the singular depending on context - e.g. 'you are' could be either, and 'they are' can be singular for many speakers. John Stephenson 09:10, 22 October 2007 (CDT)
Rewrite
I have rewritten a lot of this, deleting some sections which I felt did not approach a complete picture. For example, the original version (compare to begin with defined 'plural' in terms of English -s and nouns alone, whereas in fact it's just one manifestation of the grammatical category of number, and obviously applies to more languages than just English. I also removed the stuff about plural verbs (see above), and tried to emphasise number in other languages. John Stephenson 09:10, 22 October 2007 (CDT)