Singular or plural

[popri]

Let’s suppose you are an English teacher and standing in class. You ask your students to open their textbook to page 10.
Do you ever say “Please open your textbooks to page 10.”? I would say “Please open your textbook (singular) to page 10.” because each student uses the same textbook. What do you think?
Are textbooks correct?

 

[Rover_KE]

If their textbooks were already out, I used to say 'Please turn to page ten'.

To answer your question, I prefer 'Please open your textbooks at page ten'.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Your can be singular or plural. Since there are more than one student, I'd use it in the plural sense and say ". . . textbooks to. . . ."

But that might be why I'm not a teacher.

 

[Tarheel]

Perhaps:

Students, get out your textbooks and turn to page ten.

( ... is more than one ... )

 

[jutfrank]

Let’s suppose you are an English teacher and standing in class.

Okay, that's not too hard.

Do you ever say “Please open your textbooks to page 10.”?

No, that's incorrect. The problem is the preposition though, not the use of a plural noun.

I say this:

Go to page 10 of the textbook.

Here, the singular use of textbook refers to the book as a publication, rather than as a physical object made of paper.

However, the following is different:

Please open your textbook.

Now, the word textbook refers to the individual physical copy of the book that each student has, and the word your refers to each student individually, so the instruction would be the same whether you have twenty students or just one. Compare it with this:

Please open your textbooks.

Here, the teacher is addressing the class as a collection of students. The word your is second person plural, and textbooks refers to the whole set of books. This plural use isn't really better or worse than the singular use, but just a different kind of address.

 

[GoesStation]

Do you ever say “Please open your textbooks to page 10”?

That's fine with my correction. Use only one punctuation mark to end a sentence, even if it ends with a complete, quoted sentence.

No, that's incorrect. The problem is the preposition though, not the use of a plural noun.

"To" is correct and natural in American English.

 

[jutfrank]

"To" is correct and natural in American English.

Hmm. I disagree with that. It may be natural but I consider it wrong. It would be okay with Rover's suggestion of at, or better still with on.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Please open your textbooks to ..." was what was used by teachers when I was at school.