possessives and number (sing./pl)











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I'm revising a text containing these two sentences:




a) Students’ sex was coded by using their first names. b) Students’
birthday was self-reported in the survey,




I'm sure the correct version should have "students' birthdays" because the rule in English is to use the plural for the possessed objects, even if the possessors only have one each.



But if I apply this logic to sentence a) about sex, I get
"students' sexes" ...
which seems ridiculous. Why? They are both potentially plural, yet each student has only one sex, and one birthday.



I wonder if the parameter "sex" has only a superficial resemblance to the parameter "birthday". Have you any ideas? Many thanks.










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    up vote
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    down vote

    favorite
    1












    I'm revising a text containing these two sentences:




    a) Students’ sex was coded by using their first names. b) Students’
    birthday was self-reported in the survey,




    I'm sure the correct version should have "students' birthdays" because the rule in English is to use the plural for the possessed objects, even if the possessors only have one each.



    But if I apply this logic to sentence a) about sex, I get
    "students' sexes" ...
    which seems ridiculous. Why? They are both potentially plural, yet each student has only one sex, and one birthday.



    I wonder if the parameter "sex" has only a superficial resemblance to the parameter "birthday". Have you any ideas? Many thanks.










    share|improve this question














    bumped to the homepage by Community 54 mins ago


    This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.

















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      I'm revising a text containing these two sentences:




      a) Students’ sex was coded by using their first names. b) Students’
      birthday was self-reported in the survey,




      I'm sure the correct version should have "students' birthdays" because the rule in English is to use the plural for the possessed objects, even if the possessors only have one each.



      But if I apply this logic to sentence a) about sex, I get
      "students' sexes" ...
      which seems ridiculous. Why? They are both potentially plural, yet each student has only one sex, and one birthday.



      I wonder if the parameter "sex" has only a superficial resemblance to the parameter "birthday". Have you any ideas? Many thanks.










      share|improve this question













      I'm revising a text containing these two sentences:




      a) Students’ sex was coded by using their first names. b) Students’
      birthday was self-reported in the survey,




      I'm sure the correct version should have "students' birthdays" because the rule in English is to use the plural for the possessed objects, even if the possessors only have one each.



      But if I apply this logic to sentence a) about sex, I get
      "students' sexes" ...
      which seems ridiculous. Why? They are both potentially plural, yet each student has only one sex, and one birthday.



      I wonder if the parameter "sex" has only a superficial resemblance to the parameter "birthday". Have you any ideas? Many thanks.







      grammatical-number possessives






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      asked Nov 11 at 9:40









      Richard Robinson

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          Keep it simple and rephrase it to avoid the problem:




          a) Each student's sex was coded by first name. b) Each student's birthday was self-reported in the survey.







          share|improve this answer





















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            Keep it simple and rephrase it to avoid the problem:




            a) Each student's sex was coded by first name. b) Each student's birthday was self-reported in the survey.







            share|improve this answer

























              up vote
              0
              down vote













              Keep it simple and rephrase it to avoid the problem:




              a) Each student's sex was coded by first name. b) Each student's birthday was self-reported in the survey.







              share|improve this answer























                up vote
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                up vote
                0
                down vote









                Keep it simple and rephrase it to avoid the problem:




                a) Each student's sex was coded by first name. b) Each student's birthday was self-reported in the survey.







                share|improve this answer












                Keep it simple and rephrase it to avoid the problem:




                a) Each student's sex was coded by first name. b) Each student's birthday was self-reported in the survey.








                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered Nov 12 at 0:00









                Jason Bassford

                15.1k31941




                15.1k31941






























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