Finally I found someone else too wondering about an English conundrum long vexing me. Consider this:-
“We have got noses on our faces”
Does the above statement mean, 1> We each have more than one nose and one face 2> We all combined have more than one nose and one face.
Obviously it has to be second option. But what about this then:-
“We have fingers in our hands”
Does the same argument still hold true?We might never bother to reason or question these, because semantically the intent is very clear. But if we follow it pedantically, then there is indeed something vague and goofy here. I have tried to find out the correct forms of words in these types of sentences, but to no avail till now.
Anyhow I have devised myself a simple rule. If the ‘noun in question’ is collectively referring more than one number, then it has to be in plural, otherwise in singular. For example:-
“The boys are going to their house” – The boys live in the same house
“The boys are going to their houses” – The boys live in different houses
The above rule has worked for me till now. Semantically the expressions are clear, and grammatically too, I believe, they are now unambiguous.
