[Grammar] Plural or not: share price or share prices

[holdenenglish]

Dear teachers

I am writing the following sentence, and I want to know if I should use plural for "share price" and "performance"

"Managerial compensation linked to share price or income statement performance is likely to provide an incentive to manipulate the accounts."

1) Shall I use "share price" or "share prices", "performance" or "performances"?
2) In such circumstance, what is the grammar rule behind such use?

Please advise


Holden

 

[Tdol]

I would use the singular in both cases. If you use the plural, it would suggest not the price/performance of a particular company, but companies in general.

 

[holdenenglish]

I would use the singular in both cases. If you use the plural, it would suggest not the price/performance of a particular company, but companies in general.

Dear Tdol

Thanks for your reply. A follow-up question. If singular is used, shall I add "a" or "the" before "price" and "performance"?

Regards

Holden

 

[MikeNewYork]

Dear Tdol

Thanks for your reply. A follow-up question. If singular is used, shall I add "a" or "the" before "price" and "performance"?

Regards

Holden

I wouldn't.

 

[Raymott]

Dear Tdol

Thanks for your reply. A follow-up question. If singular is used, shall I add "a" or "the" before "price" and "performance"?

Regards

Holden

Note that 'performance' is shared by both "share price" and "income statement".
In other words, the sentence means, "Managerial compensation linked to share price [performance] or income statement performance is likely to provide an incentive to manipulate the accounts."
You couldn't use 'a', because it's extremely unlikely that incentives would rely on only one share price performance or one income statement. And you can't use 'the' because which share price or income performance has not been identified yet.

 

[holdenenglish]

Note that 'performance' is shared by both "share price" and "income statement".
In other words, the sentence means, "Managerial compensation linked to share price [performance] or income statement performance is likely to provide an incentive to manipulate the accounts."
You couldn't use 'a', because it's extremely unlikely that incentives would rely on only one share price performance or one income statement. And you can't use 'the' because which share price or income performance has not been identified yet.

Dear Raymott

Thanks for you reply. So is that because "performance" is uncountable here, so even if it's unlikely that it would not be "one" performance, we still don't use "performances" as well?

Please advise

Holden

 

[Raymott]

Dear Raymott

Thanks for you reply. So is that because "performance" is uncountable here, so even if it's unlikely that it would not be "one" performance, we still don't use "performances" as well?

Please advise

Holden

"Share price performance" means the way the share price performs. It's used uncountably here. Obviously the overall "performance" is a function of a whole lot of individual performances; but it's the overall performance that is at issue here.

 

[Tdol]

Thanks for you reply. So is that because "performance" is uncountable here, so even if it's unlikely that it would not be "one" performance, we still don't use "performances" as well?

We can use performance countably when there are discrete elements, like a musician playing a number of concerts, but share prices fluctuate over time, so it's a process rather than discrete instances IMO.