Discussion Forum
This is a forum to discuss the gray areas of the English language for which you would not find answers easily in dictionaries or other reference books.
Do You Have a Question?
Latest Posts
The newspaper headlines read:
“Dell Dude Arrested with Pot ON the Lower East Side”
“The Lower East Side” is a name of the neighborhood. You would not say he was arrested ON Chelsea. Why would you use “ON”?
“I argued that McDonald’s is good for you.”
Should it be:
“I argued that McDonald’s was good for you.”
Do I need to match the tense between “argued” and “Is” or “was”?
It seems odd that you say, “take sides”. Wouldn’t it make more sense to say “take a side”? Why plural?
60′s, 70′s, 80′s, 90′s, and now what? 00′s? What do you call the current decade?
Why do you think that these nouns resisted the temptation of adding an “s” to pluralize? Like Sheeps, Fishes, or Cattles. How was it decided that they do not have plural forms? And for what reason? And ultimately, if these nouns function fine without the plural forms, then why do we even need plural forms for any other nouns?
How do you properly distinguish them? In what context do you use one, and not the other?
What is the difference? How would you use them differently?
You can count chickens. 1 chicken, 2 chickens. But Once you fry them, you can’t count them. Why not? What’s wrong with 2 fried chickens?
“For this recepie, vodka or rum can be used, though neither is ideal.”
Should it be “neither are”?
If I were to cast it, “both are not ideal”, it is “are”. So, it seems that “neither” should also get “are”.
