What do people think about “they’re using a cell phone” vs. “they’re using a cell phone”. I like to call people using their smartphones, and they used to be using mobile phones.
This usage of singular and plural has been confusing to me.
I often see sentences like these
- People are using their cell phones.
- Why do people use a phone to communicate and talk?
Does the phrase “Everyone has their own phone” not everyone uses their own phone? How can people discuss their relationship with each other using the basic mobile phone?
When I see someone holding a cell phone on their hand, then what are the chances of him/her having it in his/her hand?
What are the chances of two different men carrying a similar bag? What sentence should I say?
- Would you please make
- it clear for me that
they are carrying backpacks?
What is the reason behind buying it? What are the tricks and the best ways to do it?
Do you think this is a difficult job?
What are your ideas about reading a story about a historical event?
The Romans are armed with a short sword known as a gladius which they use to great effect. It’s considered to be a spear. Obviously
the Roman army has more than one sword. We are using the singular of Vermeidius here. How can you know if you care about people’s context?
I would recommend avoiding phrasing like this and using context to decipher it when you come across it. You say that it’s grammatically
correct, it’s right.
Immediate Response: This post (based on indian reluctance) contains 5 inter-related questions & 2 split examples… Making this tricky usage very hard to solve with examples.
If the occurrence described is generalized, then the plurality of objects is also generalized.’ If
a person or a person is sitting in the same room as you are using a cell phone in the next room, what does that mean? Since
the description is specific to 1 occurrence, the plural of “people” and singular “phone” should be treated literally. Why do people use two mobile phones at an same time?
It is similar to using a laptop or laptop to go online, but now phones are helping. Also
in English ” Since the situation is generalized the details involved are also generalized to some extent. 😉 The speaker references both plural men/people and plural “cell-phones” and underscores the fact that this description is not specific. They don’t care about the relationship between the number of phones and the number of people watching movies.
For reading and listening to English watch for “specific or general” indicators, etc. If you can’t manage specifics, then there’s a good way. This is common enough.
What’s a good “specific & literal” or “general and non-literal” indicator for speaking or writing?
specific & literal, each man has a backpack “I saw
two men carrying a backpack. How can you understand “each” without a clarification word says they are both holding the same backpack. I
have often seen men carrying backpacks ” general & non-literal, there was more than one occasion, there was more than 1 man, there was more than 1 backpack…
What is distributive plural? What is the following discussion for a Swan in Practical
English Usage (p530): Singular and
plural (distributive plural) 1. People doing the same thing
To talk about several people doing the same thing, English usually prefers a plural noun for a repeated idea.
Tell everyone to bring in raincoats to school tomorrow morning.
So with plural forms there is almost always a possessive in
this case.
- Tell your child to blow their noses. Six people died in an automobile accident
- in Canada.
Quirk et al., 1979. What are two examples of grammar in the English language. Has everyone brought
their cameras?
Hand in your papers next Monday.
and agree with Swan that “, the distributive plural is the norm…”.
But the CGEL goes on to state that:…
the distributive singular may also be used to focus on single instances. The number is our choice. So we have a choice.
Some children have understanding fathers / an understanding father. I need to find this type of teaching, I know..
Does everyone have good appetites? Or does everybody have different appetites?
How do I summarize the CGEL discussion
as follows: “Every student was asked to name
- their favorite sport.” The singular is sometimes used to avoid ambiguity.
A sport is name by singular, so only one sport is named. Should
- my children have to have a parent with them?
Turning to the OP’s example, The speaker has a’number choice’. While, according to Swan and Quirk, the plural is the more usual form ( People are using cell phones ), the singular ( People are using a cell phone ) can also be used ‘to focus on individual instances ‘.
As for the recipient of the message, their world knowledge will usually lead them to interpret both sentences identically, namely that each person is using his or her own single phone. People don’t usually use multiple phones at the same time, and people even less commonly jointly and simultaneously use a single phone.
In the same way the backpack example was shown. Our experience of the world tells us that people almost always carry a single backpack. They almost never share the carrying of a single backpack.
What is also intrinsically ambiguous in the message? In both such cases, the message needs to be phrased in such a way as to be clear to the recipient how many of the items are involved for each person.
For example
two people with one backpack: They are carrying a backpack between them.
A person having multiple smartphones (people all using the same phone or phone to start with) is using all of their phones. (people and everyone can see the picture even onscreen)
How is the world changing, and why?
