plural subject and object

[musicgold]

Hi,

I am not sure which of the following sentences is correct. Here I am talking about a telephone survey I conducted. I was trying to call a specific group of people (sample), but for every call I made, I got the answering machine and could not speak with anybody from that group. Please explain your choice briefly.

1. It was really hard to get the people over the phone.
2. It was really hard to get the people over phones.


Thanks,


MG.

 

[Barb_D]

I wasn't able to speak with anyone on the phone.

ON the phone would be the American choice, not OVER.

 

[David L.]

1. It was really hard to get the people over the phone.
2. It was really hard to get the people over phones.

It was really hard to get hold of people on the phone. (informal)

People proved difficult to contact by phone. (formal)

It was very difficult to contact people by phone. (semi-formal to formal)