the use of the word "objective"

nico   Tue Apr 08, 2008 12:36 pm GMT
hi everybody,


Can i say:


The objectives are...


or is it like "information", you never use the plurial?

thank you all.
Guest   Tue Apr 08, 2008 1:33 pm GMT
I think you can say either:

The objectives are -or- The objective is.

Examples:

The objective is a 115mm f/4.5 APO dual-flouro lens with two elements made of Ohara FPL53.

The objectives in this series are all plan Apo, with N.A. ranging from 0.20 to 0.80 (air) and 1.20 to 1.40 (oil).
Lazar   Tue Apr 08, 2008 3:44 pm GMT
Yes, you can say that. "Objective" is a countable noun, whereas "information" is not. An objective is basically synonymous with a goal, and it's possible to have multiple distinct objectives.
Russconha   Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:13 am GMT
<The objective is a 115mm f/4.5 APO dual-flouro lens with two elements made of Ohara FPL53.

The objectives in this series are all plan Apo, with N.A. ranging from 0.20 to 0.80 (air) and 1.20 to 1.40 (oil). >

I thought this was supposed to be an English forum!!!!
Guest   Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:14 am GMT
<<I thought this was supposed to be an English forum!!!! >>

These are the kind of mundane and prosaic, sentences that show English at it's best, and also highlight the countability of the word "objective".

BTW, N.A. 1.40 is pretty ho-hum -- N.A. 1.50 with conventional immersion oil (n=1.515) would be something to write home about, though. :)
Russconha   Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:39 am GMT
<These are the kind of mundane and prosaic, sentences that show English at it's best, and also highlight the countability of the word "objective".>

Believe me, that wasn't my objective.