live can be a noun?

[ostap77]

"To the bulk of these people Britain is a strange land, and there are some who do not speak its language. Many are Maltese of origin, but strangers in Malta, having spent their whole live in Egypt."

Would there be a mistake in this sentence? Can live be a noun?

[bhaisahab]

"To the bulk of these people Britain is a strange land, and there are some who do not speak its language. Many are Maltese of origin, but strangers in Malta, having spent their whole live in Egypt."

Would there be a mistake in this sentence? Can live be a noun?

It should be "lives".

[BobK]

The point may have escaped some readers' notice that 'lives' (pronounced /laɪvz/) is the plural of 'life'.

b

[ostap77]

The point may have escaped some readers' notice that 'lives' (pronounced /laɪvz/) is the plural of 'life'.

b

Our teacher told us that it's somewhat of a newspaper slang and that writers substitute "live" for "life".??

[freezeframe]

Our teacher told us that it's somewhat of a newspaper slang and that writers substitute "live" for "life".??

What kind of a newspaper would this be?

Spelling mistakes or misuse of words isn't "slang".

[bhaisahab]

Our teacher told us that it's somewhat of a newspaper slang and that writers substitute "live" for "life".??

I can't imagine any native English speaker substituting "live" for "lives".

[bhaisahab]

I can't imagine any native English speaker substituting "live" for "lives".

You might hear "lifes", though, in some regions.