plural investigation

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A course
-20% project
-30%midterm exam
-50% final exam

So what should I say?:

-The percent(s) of the midterm and the final is/are different.

Is it natural English? Or should say PERCENTAGE? But it doesn't sound good to say PERCENTAGESSSSSS.

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@WBYeats,

Quote:

A course
-20% project
-30%midterm exam
-50% final exam

So what should I say?:

In this course, 20% of the marks available are awarded for the project, 30% for the midterm exam, and 50% for the final exam.

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@WBYeats,

WBYeats wrote:

Or should say PERCENTAGE? But it doesn't sound good to say PERCENTAGESSSSSS.

20% (twenty percent) is a percentage. 20% and 30% are percentages.

Percentages is the correct word.

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@WBYeats,

The percentages for this course are as follows: ...

WB: The percent(s) of the midterm and the final is/are different.

The weight given to the midterm and the final are different.

The percent accorded to the midterm and the final are different.

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Thank you~
==============================
Is it possible to say MUCH HERITAGE? or must I change it to many heritages?

-If it is so much of a relic and has so much heritage to it, our argument is put it in a museum so people can come and look at it.

1 Reply

@WBYeats,

Heritage is like spaghetti, ice cream and cookie dough.

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@JTT,

What's the difference?:

-When we read books, the most important thing is, we have to learn something from them. So the appearance(s) of books is/are unimportant.

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@JTT,

JTT wrote:

Heritage is like spaghetti, ice cream and cookie dough.

Not in Italy: un spaghetto; due spaghetti. You see "spaghettis" on menus in France, which enrages precisely the type of person who, in Britain, fulminates against "panini" used as a singular noun.

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http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p29/badoit/spaghetto_zps50997721.jpg

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What's the difference?:

-When we read books, the most important thing is, we have to learn something from them. So the appearance(s) of books is/are unimportant.

1 Reply

@WBYeats,

The appearance is unimportant.
The appearance (singular) of books (plural) is unimportant/

Not, the appearances are unimportant.

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@McTag,

Thank you~

So do you mean APPEARANCE is like SLANG, even when we are talking about many things, we still use the singular form APPEARANCE (no S) of something, like UK & US slang (no S); and the plural form would be abnormal English?

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Is the S optional and I can use it as I like?:

-For those students, there are only several of them whose name(s) I am not sure (about/of?).

1 Reply

@WBYeats,

WBYeats wrote:

Is the S optional and I can use it as I like?:

-For those students, there are only several of them whose name(s) I am not sure (about/of?).

The 'only several' is misplaced; if you wish to emphasise that you are sure of most of the names you could use 'only a few'.

'of them' is optional and often omitted.

The plural 's' is necessary and not optional if there are more items than one.

For those students, there is only one whose name I am not sure of.

For those students, there are only a few whose names I am not sure of.

1 Reply

@contrex,

Thank you~

Do you think they are both correct?:

-We took the East Rail Line and South Rail Lines to Texas.
-We took the East Rail and South Rail Line to Texas. (=We took the East Rail [Line] and South Rail Line to Texas.)

1 Reply

@WBYeats,

Quote:

We took the East Rail and South Rail lines to Texas.

That one's probably best, if they are separate lines. Note I've made the L lower case.

1 Reply

@McTag,

Thank you~

Is the plural optional and would the meaning be different?:

-There are too many questions I can't give a definite answer/definite answers to.

1 Reply

@WBYeats,

Quote:

Is the plural optional and would the meaning be different?:

-There are too many questions I can't give a definite answer/definite answers to.

Yes, the plural is optional, and the meaning is the same.

1 Reply

@McTag,

Thank you.

Is the singular the same as the plural?:

-In English, we say ON Friday night, AT night, or IN the night; but I think you know this/these already.

This=this thing/this type of thing
These=these expressions

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Are they both correct?:

-We have been engineering/business/Japanese/English/science majors since 2006.
-We have been a engineering/business/Japanese/English/science major since 2006.

1 Reply

plural investigation

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