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Post by mick on Feb 6, 2024 9:08:37 GMT
"The Miss Japan title will now remain vacant for the rest of the year, although there were several runner-ups." From a BBC report. Runners-up - am I right?
Their are five mistukes in thus centence.
True or false? (from grandson's homework)
Mick
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Post by peterob on Feb 6, 2024 9:33:52 GMT
"The Miss Japan title will now remain vacant for the rest of the year, although there were several runner-ups." From a BBC report. Runners-up - am I right? Their are five mistukes in thus centence. If that is the whole of the homework then I make it five errors overall. runner-ups is correct not runners-up, although the latter sounds more natural and I wouldn't particularly regard it to be an error, and there are the four obvious ones in the last sentence. Depending on how you interpret the question then the logical answer is false because "this sentence" refers to the last sentence only which has four errors (aka mistakes), and excludes the foregoing sentence about the Miss Japan title in which the am I right is wrong (a mistake). So trick question designed to start a discussion. Also depends if you consider, e.g. their for there to be a mistake or an error. If errors are not mistakes then there are no mistakes in the last sentence. Result still false. |
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Post by Kath on Feb 6, 2024 9:34:51 GMT
Runners-up...it's the runners wot is plural, not the ups.
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Post by Kath on Feb 6, 2024 9:36:21 GMT
"The Miss Japan title will now remain vacant for the rest of the year, although there were several runner-ups." From a BBC report. Runners-up - am I right? Their are five mistukes in thus centence. If that is the whole of the homework then I make it five errors overall. runner-ups is correct not runners-up, although the latter sounds more natural and I wouldn't particularly regard it to be an error, and there are the four obvious ones in the last sentence. Depending on how you interpret the question then the logical answer is false because "this sentence" refers to the last sentence only which has four errors (aka mistakes), and excludes the foregoing sentence about the Miss Japan title in which the am I right is wrong (a mistake). So trick question designed to start a discussion. Also depends if you consider, e.g. their for there to be a mistake or an error. If errors are not mistakes then there are no mistakes in the last sentence. Result still false. The plural is definitely runners-up. In the same way that the plural of passer-by is passers-by, not passer-bys. |
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Post by peterob on Feb 6, 2024 10:27:41 GMT
If that is the whole of the homework then I make it five errors overall. runner-ups is correct not runners-up, although the latter sounds more natural and I wouldn't particularly regard it to be an error, and there are the four obvious ones in the last sentence. Depending on how you interpret the question then the logical answer is false because "this sentence" refers to the last sentence only which has four errors (aka mistakes), and excludes the foregoing sentence about the Miss Japan title in which the am I right is wrong (a mistake). So trick question designed to start a discussion. Also depends if you consider, e.g. their for there to be a mistake or an error. If errors are not mistakes then there are no mistakes in the last sentence. Result still false. The plural is definitely runners-up. In the same way that the plural of passer-by is passers-by, not passer-bys. I got my Chambers Dictionary out. Indeed it is runners-up and passers-by. Too early in the morning. I was thinking that the hyphen made a difference so that runner-up in plural would be (runner-up)s whereas without the hyphen runner up in plural would be (runner)s up. |
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Post by MJB on Feb 6, 2024 10:37:04 GMT
I would argue that there is no need for a plural of runner-up as theres only ever one. Runners-up or runner-ups, I'm not going to judge you. There's no direct correlation between education and stupidity.
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Post by peterob on Feb 6, 2024 10:48:31 GMT
I would argue that there is no need for a plural of runner-up as theres only ever one. Runners-up or runner-ups, I'm not going to judge you. There's no direct correlation between education and stupidity. I must admit that that influenced my thinking - that the singular is used exclusively. Kath's analogy with passers-by prompted me to find the dictionary. |
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Post by Kath on Feb 6, 2024 11:13:04 GMT
I would argue that there is no need for a plural of runner-up as theres only ever one. Runners-up or runner-ups, I'm not going to judge you. There's no direct correlation between education and stupidity. In this world of inclusivity, second and third (silver and bronze) are often collectively known as the runners-up. ETA... But honestly I don't think it matters that much. Passer-bys sounds much more awkward than Runner-ups. |
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Post by kate on Feb 6, 2024 11:22:18 GMT
This prompted me to research Courts Martial, Court Martial, Court-Martial and Courts-Martial.
I'm going back to my cooling coffee in the kitchen.
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Post by JohnY on Feb 6, 2024 11:32:57 GMT
I reheated my coffee in the microwave. In the first post there are two questions.
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Post by peterob on Feb 6, 2024 11:44:01 GMT
I would argue that there is no need for a plural of runner-up as theres only ever one. Runners-up or runner-ups, I'm not going to judge you. There's no direct correlation between education and stupidity. In this world of inclusivity, second and third (silver and bronze) are often collectively known as the runners-up. ETA... But honestly I don't think it matters that much. Passer-bys sounds much more awkward than Runner-ups. Live and learn. I thought that, in competition sport, everyone without a placing was a runner-up. I agree that as a general rule what "sounds right" is most often right whether a grammatical practice is breached or not. That's one thing that must make English difficult to learn. I was over-thinking this morning. I would not ordinarily have questioned the correctness of runners-up. The passers-by example was the clincher, good example. |
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Post by dorsetmike on Feb 6, 2024 12:40:12 GMT
"Their are five mistukes in thus centence."
Surely the word five can also be a mistake - if it read four then it makes sense.
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Post by Ivor E Tower on Feb 8, 2024 20:54:54 GMT
This prompted me to research Courts Martial, Court Martial, Court-Martial and Courts-Martial. I'm going back to my cooling coffee in the kitchen. What about Courts Marital ? |
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Post by kate on Feb 8, 2024 20:56:19 GMT
This prompted me to research Courts Martial, Court Martial, Court-Martial and Courts-Martial. I'm going back to my cooling coffee in the kitchen. What about Courts Marital ? That's three life sentences. |
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Post by Ivor E Tower on Feb 8, 2024 20:57:17 GMT
Very good !
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