utility bills vs utilities bills

[SuperKingKong]

Dear people,

I'm confused between these two words.
what do they mean?

utilities bills and utility bills?

Would appreciate if someone could help, thanks.

btw, i have another question :P on the above sentense, do i use "... if someone can help" or "... if someone could help"? thanks.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Dear people,

I'm confused between these two words.
what do they mean?

utilities bills and utility bills?

There's no such thing as utilities bills. A bill is a written request for a payment, and a utility can be electricity, heat, phone, or water. Here, utility is an adjective, so it's singular: utility bills is correct.

Would appreciate if someone could help, thanks.

btw, i have another question :P on the above sentense, do i use "... if someone can help" or "... if someone could help"? thanks.

Could is correct.

[I'm a copy editor and have tutored university writing.]

[SuperKingKong]

thanks for the clarification :)

my understanding earlier was...

electricity is one utility
water is another utility ... etc

so, utilities are the combination electricity, water, gas, etc

bills because i have a lot of bills of each utility.

at the end, i'm trying to say i have a lot bills for each of the utilities

is the above wrong? :P

thanks :)

[David L.]

It's really helpful when you give your reasoning, as you have done; and when Charlie B. next logs on, it means he has a better understanding of your uncertainty and confusion in order to reply.

Other threaders, PLEASE NOTE.

[SuperKingKong]

i'm sorry

[Ouisch]

thanks for the clarification :)

my understanding earlier was...

electricity is one utility
water is another utility ... etc

so, utilities are the combination electricity, water, gas, etc

bills because i have a lot of bills of each utility.

at the end, i'm trying to say i have a lot bills for each of the utilities

is the above wrong? :P

thanks :)

When a person first moves into a house or apartment, he might say "I'll be busy today, I've got to get all my utilities turned on." This means that he will have to contact the telephone company, power company, etc., to get these services connected at his residence.

However, when the bills begin to arrive, they are lumped together under the classification "utility bills" (not "utilities"). He might complain: "I can't believe how much I owe on utility bills this month...the phone company raised their rates, and it was hot last month and I had the air conditioning running all the time, so now my electric bill is enormous...!"

[SuperKingKong]

Ouisch, thanks a lot for the great explanation :)

[kiranlegend]

Dear people,

I'm confused between these two words.
what do they mean?

utilities bills and utility bills?

Would appreciate if someone could help, thanks.

btw, i have another question :P on the above sentense, do i use "... if someone can help" or "... if someone could help"? thanks.

Would appreciate if someone could help -- is which type of conditional?

Thanks,
Kiran