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Where's the ST English Majors ? ...

Posted by i'm not dead yet ! (aka pacrat) Nov 18 '10, 12:27

Is "couple" considered a singular word or a plural word.

sure, the items that make up 'a couple' are plural, but does that mean automatically that 'couple' is plural ...

should something read, for example, "A couple of my friends ARE going somewhere..." (which sounds gramatically correct to me) ...

but can it also be gramatically correct to say soemthing like, "there IS a couple of things to consider here..."

in short, i guess that the items that makes up 'the couple' determines plurality?

one last example ... when 'couple' is used in the sense of 'a married couple'; in other words a married man and woman ...

Is it correct to say something like, "The couple that you're about to meet is originally from Texas ..." (which sort of sounds correct to me)

ST's thoughts? I guess it's all dependant upon the usage and the situation that "couple" is being used in?

Responses:

First example is correct. Second is absolutely wrong. Third example is correct. -- nm - Qale Nov 18, 12:53 4
- Only in your third example were you using the word "couple" as a noun, which makes it a singular word. Every other time, you were using it as an - Qale Nov 18, 12:56 3
  - to nitpick (cause I'm good at that) ... it was still a noun, but used in an adjectivial phrase. - loosilu Nov 18, 12:58 2
    - How can you nitpick if you don't even know the name of what you're talking about? :P -- nm - Qale Nov 18, 13:01 1
      - I do know it's a noun! -- nm - loosilu Nov 18, 13:05
Both are correct. A sentence that uses that word can have "couple" as the subject, but the subject can also be implied - con_carne Nov 18, 12:37
"where's the English majors at" -- nm - Beaker Nov 18, 12:34 1
- "Yo, where my talkin' bitches at?!" -- nm - Beryllium Nov 18, 12:34
welcome to the english language -- nm - oblique Nov 18, 12:34 1
- seriously ... no doubt why non-speakers as a first language have such a hard time learning English -- nm - i'm not dead yet ! Nov 18, 12:41
if you are taking about a couple i would consider it a singular unit,. if you are talking about the items like "there are a couple of reasons" then - Elf Andie Nov 18, 12:33
I believe it can go either way depending on your meaning and context. -- nm - loosilu Nov 18, 12:29 4
- I'm going to take a guess: If it's just "couple", it's singular; but if it's a couple OF something, it's plural. - loosilu Nov 18, 12:30 3
  - I don't recall the terms but the two uses of "couple" there make them very different words by definition. noun vs. ? -- nm - oblique Nov 18, 12:36 2
    - "couple" can be both subject and modifier -- (link) - con_carne Nov 18, 12:47
    - I think it's always a noun. -- nm - loosilu Nov 18, 12:42
Where *are* the ST english majors? -- nm - Spawn Nov 18, 12:29 4
- [deleted]
- *waves* - oblique Nov 18, 12:34
- point well taken, the Southerner in me came out for a moment -- nm - i'm not dead yet ! Nov 18, 12:32
- where are they at?....nm - x Nov 18, 12:32
where is they? -- nm - cameo Nov 18, 12:28
"there IS a couple of things" is grammatically incorrect, I believe. -- nm - Beryllium Nov 18, 12:28 3
- It's also becoming horribly pervasive in the media, along with "there is a lot..." -- nm - Max Nov 18, 12:32 2
  - There is a lot to be said, here. -- nm - Spawn Nov 18, 12:33
  - The news has annoyed me this decade; consistently dropping words makes it feel clipped and jarring. -- nm - Beryllium Nov 18, 12:33

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Where's the ST English Majors ? ...

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