lipstick

[GUEST2008]

Hello

Are these good sentences:

1. Do you put on a lipstick?
2. I wrote both my MA and BA thesis on American literature.

[PROESL]

Hello

Are these good sentences:

1. Do you put on a lipstick?
2. I wrote both my MA and BA thesis on American literature.

The second is correct. I imagine some people might say that you should include "thesis" after "MA" as well, but it's not necessary. It's a correct sentence.

The first one is not correct because "lipstick" is an uncountable noun and is not preceded by "a: indefinite article".

To correct it, we could simply leave out the article: Do you put on lipstick?

However, this simple correction is not sufficient because we don't really know what one means to say with this sentence. Also, consideriing the sentence as it is, without context, I think most people would choose the verb "use" instead of "put": Do you use lipstick? The verb "put", however, is possible.

Here are some other possibilities, depending on what one means to really say:

Do you use lipstick every day?

Did you put some lipstick on?

Are you going to put on any lipstick?

Are you going to use lipstick?

[Barb_D]

You're not tempted to suggest the plural "theses"? I am.

I wouldn't be struck by the original as being odd if I read it, but I think I'd make it plural if I wrote it.

I worked in the customer service industry in my first and second job[s]?
My first and second job[s] was/were both in the customer service industry?

I'd go plural in the second of those, but oddly, could go either way for the first. (Actually, I'd re-write the second to avoid the issue.)

What do you think?

[Raymott]

I considered whether you needed a plural in:
I put my shoes on both my left and right foot. Both feet?
If this is an ellipsis for "on both my left foot and my right foot", then you don't need a plural.
And you don't need a plural in "I had a cut on both my left leg and my left arm".

Regarding lipstick, there are odd occasions when an article might be appropriate - such as "I need to draw something on this tablecloth. Do you have a lipstick in your bag? "

[PROESL]

You're not tempted to suggest the plural "theses"? I am.

I wouldn't be struck by the original as being odd if I read it, but I think I'd make it plural if I wrote it.

I worked in the customer service industry in my first and second job[s]?
My first and second job[s] was/were both in the customer service industry?

I'd go plural in the second of those, but oddly, could go either way for the first. (Actually, I'd re-write the second to avoid the issue.)

What do you think?

I did consider that - the plural form theses - , but something drove me from suggesting it. I don't know what it could've been.

I think in spoken language most people would be more inclined to say "my first and second job", but one can't be certain, of course.

I think for the phrase "first and second job", we could say that leaving out "job" after "first" is a legitimate form of ellipsis, and therefore would not count the sentence as being wrong. I feel that in spoken language an item such as this would go largely unnoticed.
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You're not tempted to suggest the plural "theses"? I am.

I wouldn't be struck by the original as being odd if I read it, but I think I'd make it plural if I wrote it.?

I would say the same, especially upon considering spoken language. I would also say the same for leaving out "thesis" and not using the plural "theses" - legitimate from of ellipsis.
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Thank you for bringing up these points. They are certainly worth giving some thought.