Forum newsfeeds
Forum Newsfeeds


Sites for Teachers

Sites for Teachers


Go Back   UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum > Learning English > Ask a Teacher

Notices

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 29-Nov-2003, 13:24
Helped Wanted
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Do we need to change the words in ( ) to plural forms? thx

In future, students will not need to carry books to school. They will just bring a notebook ( or notebooks? ) to school.


Similary,

In future, people will do shopping at home. They will buy things ( through or on?) the television and a robot ( robots? ) will deliver the things to their (home or homes?)


Sorry for posting such silly questions. Thanks for helping again, teachers!

(T_T)
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 29-Nov-2003, 14:32
Editor, UsingEnglish.com
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Country: UK
Posts: 25,130
Current Location: Phnom Penh
First Language: English
Thanks: 2
Thanked 242 Times in 232 Posts
Tdol has disabled reputation
Default

In future, people will do shopping at home. They will buy things through (or via) the television and a robots will deliver the things to their (home or homes?
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 29-Nov-2003, 15:01
CitySpeak
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by tdol
In future, people will do shopping at home. They will buy things through (or via) the television and a robots will deliver the things to their (home or homes?

Could I add something please?

In "the future"? "robots"?

I would eliminate "the" and use "goods", "products", or "merchandise" in place of "things" in this particular example.


Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old 29-Nov-2003, 15:22
Helped Wanted
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Thank you, teachers. What about using "a robot" or "robots" and "home" or "homes" in the latter part of the sentence? Thanks for helping again! T_T
Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
Old 29-Nov-2003, 15:51
CitySpeak
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Helped Wanted
Thank you, teachers. What about using "a robot" or "robots" and "home" or "homes" in the latter part of the sentence? Thanks for helping again! T_T


You could say "a robot" and "their home" in order to refer to all "robots" and all "homes" collectively, but I think it makes more sense to use the plural forms here. I would say "robots" and "their homes" in this sentence.
Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
Old 30-Nov-2003, 01:32
Helped Wanted
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Thanks for helping again, CitySpeak! ^o^
Reply With Quote
  #7 (permalink)  
Old 30-Nov-2003, 02:51
CitySpeak
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Helped Wanted
Thanks for helping again, CitySpeak! ^o^
So, just to be clear, let's see what we finally have here.


In the future, people will do their shopping at home. They will buy things via the television, and robots will deliver products (merchandise or goods) to their homes.

Keep in mind that you can use "purchase" in place of "buy". If this is an essay or some sort of formal discourse, the verb "purchase" might work better than "buy".

They will purchase products via the television, and robots will deliver them directly to their homes.


For "buy" we also have the phrase "make a purchase".

We could say "They will make purchases via the television."

"make a purchase"

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...+a+purchase%22


8) 8)
Reply With Quote
  #8 (permalink)  
Old 30-Nov-2003, 03:11
Helped Wanted
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Thanks for helping again and again, CitySpeak! Is it right to add in a few words there in the sentence as in:

In the future, people will do their shopping at home. They will buy things via the television, and there will be robots to deliver products (merchandise or goods) to their homes.

Is it OK to add a few extra words in there?

PLUS I've got another sentence that needs corrections. Please advise too! Sorry for the hassle, teachers!

When I was a little girl, I already loved painting and drawing. So I made up my mind to be a fashion designer in the future.
Reply With Quote
  #9 (permalink)  
Old 30-Nov-2003, 03:15
Helped Wanted
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Thanks for helping again and again, CitySpeak! Is it right to add in a few words there in the sentence as in:

In the future, people will do their shopping at home. They will buy things via the television, and there will be robots to deliver products (merchandise or goods) to their homes

PLUS, I've got another sentence that needs corrections. Please advise too! Sorry for the hassle, teachers!

When I was a little girl, I already loved painting and drawing, so I made up my mind to be a fashion designer in the future.

Please correct if there's any mistakes. Thanks again! T_T
Reply With Quote
  #10 (permalink)  
Old 30-Nov-2003, 04:10
Casiopea's Avatar
VIP Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Country: Canada
Posts: 12,997
Current Location: China
First Language: English
Thanks: 0
Thanked 16 Times in 16 Posts
Casiopea is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Do we need to change the words in ( ) to plural forms? t

They will just bring a notebook to school.
==> Each student brings one notebook.

They will just bring notebooks to school.
==> Each student with bring more than one notebook.

:D
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
change, words, plural, forms, thx

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Native words Anonymous Ask a Teacher 5 27-Sep-2007 00:22
1000 most important words Joe Ask a Teacher 1 12-Sep-2004 06:23
plural forms... Anonymous Ask a Teacher 1 29-Jun-2004 19:18
effectively managing change or managing change effectively? Anonymous Ask a Teacher 4 22-Aug-2003 20:20
Confusing Words or Confused Words Piak General Language Discussions 3 07-Jun-2003 22:10


New To Site? Need Help?

All times are GMT. The time now is 21:52.


vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.2.0 RC5
Copyright © 2002 - 2008 UsingEnglish.com