Psycho-Babble Social Thread 830304

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Double plurals?

Posted by Jamal Spelling on May 21, 2008, at 9:25:42

Does one say
"breeds of dog"
or
"breeds of dogs"?

(We treat all breeds of dog(s).)

Is it
"sizes of cloud"
or
"sizes of clouds"?

(There are many different sizes of cloud(s).)

etc.

Re: Double plurals?

Posted by Dinah on May 21, 2008, at 10:46:14

In reply to Double plurals?, posted by Jamal Spelling on May 21, 2008, at 9:25:42

Wouldn't the first plural refer to the first noun?

And the second plural refer to the second noun?

They certainly aren't interchangeable, and each needs to be determined on their own.

So size of clouds refers to information of the size of many clouds? While size of cloud would refer to the size of a particular cloud? Sizes of clouds would refer to the many sizes of many clouds. But I suppose you could theoretically have sizes of cloud. In that clouds tend to change shape and I suppose they could change size with condensation and evaporation. So one cloud could have more than one size.

Re: Double plurals?

Posted by Jamal Spelling on May 21, 2008, at 13:03:08

In reply to Re: Double plurals?, posted by Dinah on May 21, 2008, at 10:46:14

Here's how I would reason. Consider the "breeds of dog(s)" example. I think it should be "breeds of dog", and this is why:

Consider the breed of labrador. That is one breed of dog (rather than a breed of dogs). Now consider the breed of german shepherd. That is another breed of dog (rather than a breed of dogs). So if you sum over all breeds, you get breeds of dog, right? The elements of the set are "breed of dog" rather than "breed of dogs", so the plural of "breed of dog" is "breeds of dog".

Re: Double plurals?

Posted by Dinah on May 21, 2008, at 17:19:02

In reply to Re: Double plurals?, posted by Jamal Spelling on May 21, 2008, at 13:03:08

In the case of breeds of dog, I think you're right.

But I haven't studied grammar since ninth grade, so I wouldn't swear to it.

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