Singular or Plural
Could somebody comment on these and tell me how I am supposed to choose between singular and plural in such cases? This always drives me nuts. Thanks.
- Did you find that word in any dictionary/dictionaries?
- I couldn't find that word in any dictionary/dictionaries.
- I didn't talk about that with any colleague/colleagues.
- I can't read a newspaper in any language/languages other than my native one.
- Have you spotted any terrorists hidden in any building/buildings?
- There seem to be no terrorists in any building/buildings around here, sir.
All of these examples can be either, depending on whether you mean one or more than one.
Both ways (singular or plural) are fine grammatically, however, the last example with the buildings--in its current context--would favor the use of plural ("buildings"), even though the singular is grammatically correct if it's meant that way.
I would say that in most of those cases, the singular is better. Often when the plural is used, it's preceded by a phrase that indicates a group. For instance,
"I couldn't find that word in any of these dictionaries".
"I didn't talk about that with any of my colleagues".
"Have you spotted any terrorists hidden in any of those buildings?"
The word that sits before your confusion, creates the "plural" effect (ANY). Therefore, the singular is prefered. Nevertheless, it can work a number of ways. Try to think of it, by using words that change in the plural, such as goose/geese, or ones that don't change at all, sheep/sheep or deer/deer and you'll find they are not interchangable.
Are + any = plural use.
Is + any = singular.
Are there any dictionaries, that contain that word? (or) Is there any dictionary that contains that word? They both are correct, but used a little different. The first is non-specific to a particular dictionary, but the latter would need some specifiaction in the answer.
A terrorist (singular) cannot be in more than one building at any one time, so in this case, use singular. But if you are refering to terrorists (plural) there is a chance of them being in different buildings, so if this is what you want to project then use the plural, in this case. The other option, is when you want to create the image of the terrorists being all together in one building, then "plural" terrorists, but combined with, "singular" building.
Hope that makes sense. :o)