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Mon 31 Aug, 2015 11:58 am
-John's body felt weak and found ___ in just lifting his hand.
Is it correct to use the plural 'difficulties'? My friend told me the plural is always wrong when the meaning is 'the state of being hard to do', but in BYU-BNC: BRITISH NATIONAL CORPUS I find several quotations, so I'm not sure.
@WBYeats,
Alienable and Inalienable possession is confusing to me also. I vote for "difficulty" since it refers to a singular person/body. But I got "C's" in English.
Your friend is right, and also we would say he had difficulty raising his arm.
@WBYeats,
WB there's a very slight and probably rarely observed diff. A typical difficulty might be weakness but difficulties might include muscle pain
@dalehileman,
Quote:probably rarely observed diff
Commonly observed difference -
Have difficulty (non-count) in doing something.
Find or encounter a difficulty (singular) or difficulties (plural) during a process or plan or activity.
@Tes yeux noirs,
Quote:Find or encounter a difficulty (singular) or difficulties (plural) during a process or plan or activity.
Of course Tes but what I meant was, we'd be more likely to hear the singular even when he experiences more than just one
Quote:John's body felt weak and found difficulty in just lifting his hand.
No. John's body felt weak and
he found (or had) difficulty in just lifting his hand.
@WBYeats,
Yeats the sentence is drivel , as is some of the advice, go read some poetry.
John was so weak that he had difficulty raising his hand.
@Tes yeux noirs,
84 years of observation, Tes
@nacredambition,
Quote:John was so weak that he had difficulty raising his hand.
Nacre, how often would you expect to hear this said with "difficulties," even though, in addition to his weakness, it causes pain
Personally, I would prefer to use the plural "difficulties" when there are a number of separately identifiable difficulties, and the non-count "difficulty" when there is one problem. John had difficulty raising his hand because his arm was weak. John faced a number of difficulties getting a job: he was an alcoholic, he couldn't read, and he had a conviction for murder.
@nacredambition,
Is your 1st language American Eng?
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