Objects of preposition

[Anonymous]

Given that my husband has one wife, which statement below is correct:

....especially your choice of wife.

OR

...especially your choice of wives.

I need to settle this with him

[RonBee]

If a man has more than one wife, he could have his choice of wives, but if he has only one wife that option is not available.

:)

[Tdol]

If looking bacl of a series of marriages, like Elizabeth Taylor, you could use the plural, but otherwise, bigamists and polygamists aside, I'd go far 'wife'.

[RonBee]

Let me try again.

If a man has one wife there is no choosing involved. If he has more than one wife, then he may very well be able to choose which wife he wants. Or, to put it another way, he may have his choice of any of his wives. I don't think I would use either choice of wife or choice of wives, but the second one does come closer to what I would actually say.

:)

[Tdol]

Your husband may well have had a choice of suitors before he married you, which is where the plural would be OK, but since then, his choice was for one wife.

[RonBee]

Your husband may well have had a choice of suitors before he married you, which is where the plural would be OK, but since then, his choice was for one wife.

He chose to have one wife rather than two or more?