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most of that or most of them or most of it

Forums: Grammaticality Agreement
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suwon kim
 
Reply Tue 12 Mar, 2019 06:45 am
I happened to read the following sentence in ‘Poached’ by Stuart Gibbs, which deals with coalas.
They(Coalas) rest sixteen to eighteen hours a day and spend most of that unconscious.
But I wonder whether the word ‘that’ is grammatically correct, for I think ‘most of them(the resting hours)’ is correct.
Would you grammarians teach me whether it is grammatically correct or not?
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Type: Question • Score: 2 • Views: 409 • Replies: 6
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Reply Tue 12 Mar, 2019 07:15 am
@suwon kim,
It would have been correct to write "...most of 'those'..." (referring to "hours")
"Them" seems correct, (and may be), but "them hours" isn't correct. That is why I would choose "those".
I would have written "... most of that 'time'..."
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Sturgis
 
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Reply Tue 12 Mar, 2019 12:59 pm
@suwon kim,
Think of the sentence as, "...most of that time unconscious. "



Further, I would say they were asleep rather than unconscious.
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cherrie
 
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Reply Tue 12 Mar, 2019 10:27 pm
@suwon kim,
Koala, not coala.
And they are asleep, not unconscious.
izzythepush
 
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Reply Wed 13 Mar, 2019 01:38 am
@cherrie,
We have koalas, and I'm going to take my boy to see them when the attraction opens.

https://i.prcdn.co/img?regionKey=Oc9Nr8UeCpHfGfOVabereg%3D%3D&scale=100

Longleat isn't far from Southampton.
cherrie
 
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Reply Wed 13 Mar, 2019 04:15 am
@izzythepush,
I didn't know they'd done that. It's a good idea, I'd hate to see koalas die out and having a reserve of them somewhere else makes sense.
Wombats, on the other hand, are just a nuisance and if I never see another one again I'll be quite happy.
I hope you and your son enjoy this little bit of Australia.
izzythepush
 
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Reply Wed 13 Mar, 2019 05:08 am
@cherrie,
I remember reading that koalas are very picky about their food and that moving one to a different eucalyptus tree could kill it, which is why, I'm sorry to say, I didn't believe my son when he first told me.

It wouldn't have made any difference about when we will see them mind, the attraction hasn't opened yet, still a few more weeks to go.
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