Though this might be a very basic question, I'm sure that it's an important question.
(1) 'Many people lost their job.'
(2) 'Many people lost their jobs'.
I often see both (1) and (2) on the Internet.
Which is acceptable? Is there any difference between them?
(3) 'Many people have their own self-motivation.'
I think that the sentence (3) more exactly means that 'each one of the many people has his/her own self-motivation' and each one has only ONE self-motivation.
From this point of view, the sentence (2) means that 'each one of the many people lost his/her jobs' because 'jobs' is plural. This means that each one of them had more than one job, perhaps doing side jobs or part time jobs.
On the other hand, the sentence (1) means that 'each one of the many people had only one job' because 'job' is singular.
The sentence (2) got more hits on Google, but I cannot believe that so many people were having side jobs and lost their jobs
which include both their main job and side jobs. :?:
(1) 'Many people lost their job.'
(2) 'Many people lost their jobs'.
I often see both (1) and (2) on the Internet.
Which is acceptable? Is there any difference between them?
(3) 'Many people have their own self-motivation.'
I think that the sentence (3) more exactly means that 'each one of the many people has his/her own self-motivation' and each one has only ONE self-motivation.
From this point of view, the sentence (2) means that 'each one of the many people lost his/her jobs' because 'jobs' is plural. This means that each one of them had more than one job, perhaps doing side jobs or part time jobs.
On the other hand, the sentence (1) means that 'each one of the many people had only one job' because 'job' is singular.
The sentence (2) got more hits on Google, but I cannot believe that so many people were having side jobs and lost their jobs
which include both their main job and side jobs. :?: