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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Turn out beautiful v.s. turn out beautifully | Proper use of Quotation marks
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singular or plural Tue Mar 25, 2008 23:34 pm  singular or plural
 

Hi

I'm not sure if i should use a singular or plural noun for the following sentences:

All single garage homes in this community have a backyard/backyards

(assume every home has no more than 1 back yard)

If i use "backyards", am I saying 1 home could have many backyards?

Do these homes have a for sale sign/for sale signs in the front yard

(assume every home has no more than 1 sign in the front yard)
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singular or plural Wed Mar 26, 2008 0:07 am  singular or plural
 

HI,

The rule is plural subject = plural verb:
Quote:
...garage homes have....

Quote:
,,,these homes have ...

Alan
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singular or plural Wed Mar 26, 2008 0:10 am  singular or plural
 

so "All single garage homes in this community have a backyard" would be grammatically incorrect

and "they all have a backyard" would also be incorrect

But i've been hearing native speakers say this way all the time

Are both ways acceptable in speech or I have been hearing them wrong
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singular or plural Wed Mar 26, 2008 0:38 am  singular or plural
 

All single garage homes in this community have a backyard means that every single garage home has one backyard.

All single garage homes in this community have backyards. Technically, this could mean that the homes have several backyards which wouldn't make much sense.

Both sentences are grammatically correct.
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singular or plural Wed Mar 26, 2008 2:08 am  singular or plural
 

Torsten

Thanks for the explanation. I understand it now.

But your explaination contradicts with Alan's?

The rule is plural subject = plural verb:
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singular or plural Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:47 am  singular or plural
 

Where is the contradiction?

Quote:
All single garage homes in this community have
every single garage home has

I think you're confusing grammar with meaning.

Alan
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singular or plural Wed Mar 26, 2008 14:55 pm  singular or plural
 

I just got confused because your response to my questions were not clear

I was asking about whether plural or singular nouns should be used (a backyard, or backyards, for sale signs for a for sale signs)

I was not asking about has or have.
Alan wrote:
Where is the contradiction?

Quote:
All single garage homes in this community have
every single garage home has

I think you're confusing grammar with meaning.

Alan
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singular or plural Wed Mar 26, 2008 14:58 pm  singular or plural
 

All houses have backyards. (This can mean that every house has one backyard or that some of the houses have several backyards.
Every house has a backyard. (This means every house has one backyard.)
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singular or plural Wed Mar 26, 2008 20:29 pm  singular or plural
 

I would hyphenate "single garage" since it is a compound adjective used to describe "homes":

All single-garage homes in this community have a backyard.
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Turn out beautiful v.s. turn out beautifully | Proper use of Quotation marks
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