Question
Actualizado en
12 dic 2016
- Japonés
-
Inglés (US)
-
Francés (Francia)
-
Chino tradicional (Hong Kong)
Pregunta cerrada
Pregunta de Inglés (US)
Which is correct? "They have a cold" / "They have colds"
Which is correct? "They have a cold" / "They have colds"
Respuestas
12 dic 2016
Respuesta destacada
- Inglés (US)
After I answered, I started thinking that I probably use both sometimes, but I can't think of how I decide which is natural.
For instance:
A:How are your kids?
B: They have a cold.
A: Missed you at church yesterday. Is everything ok?
B: Yeah, we're fine, thank you. I was home with the kids; they have colds.
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- Inglés (US)
They have colds.
Because there is more than one person, there is also more than one cold.
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- Inglés (US)
- Chino simplificado Casi fluido
They have colds...edited after I thought it over a few times xD
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- Inglés (US)
Even native speakers people don't know the answer to that! ha ha.
But most people say "They have colds."
"They each have a cold" is a way to get around the dilemma.
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- Inglés (US)
After I answered, I started thinking that I probably use both sometimes, but I can't think of how I decide which is natural.
For instance:
A:How are your kids?
B: They have a cold.
A: Missed you at church yesterday. Is everything ok?
B: Yeah, we're fine, thank you. I was home with the kids; they have colds.
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- Inglés (US)
Lol. We still can't agree, after thinking it over. I'd say both are pretty safe!
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- Inglés (US)
basically they can be used for one person you don't know the gender of or for multiple people if you mean one its a cold if its multiple its colds
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- Japonés
@lmoses5972 @Ritsumei @prismo @CLML Thank you guys!! Ibelieve I understand what you mean but it's interesting that the question is not just a grammatical issue:)
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