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Apostrophes Show Ownership

  1. Leishort
  2. Kimberly Dawn Wells


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1.   Jan 21, 2007 9:21 PM

» Leishort - when to use plural in a sentence?

I have been a Supervisor for 15 months now and it has been awhile since I have to type up alot of informations to my staff.

Now see above: information or informations?also when do you use anybody and everybody?

-- posted by Leishort

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2.   Feb 5, 2007 7:01 AM

» Kimberly Dawn Wells - when to use plural in a sentence?

In response to when to use plural in a sentence? posted by Leishort:
'A lot' is commonly and mistakenly combined to create 'alot,' however 'alot' is not a word.

'Information' is uncountable and therefore never used as the 'plural.' You would not use an 's' with 'information' as 'informations' is regarded as incorrect.

For example:
"She has the information on the widget." - where widget is singular.
"He gave me four types of information for the project." - where four types refers to several, or plural.

'Anybody' is basically used when you want 'any' person to reply, such as, "does anybody have a pen?" You don't care if four people do, you just want one.

'Everybody' is used when you want 'every' person to reply. If you ask, "does everybody have a pen?" you are asking that each and every person has a pen.

Everybody, anybody, and somebody are generally used in more casual settings, while everyone, anyone, and someone are regarded for use in more formal settings. Much of this has to do with the visual people get when they hear the word 'body' and the 'buddy' drawl that is often attached at the end of the casual terms.

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Kimberly Dawn Wells
Contributing Writer for Suite101

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