Re: Appositive of singular or plural noun

Hi all,

I'm Howard, the original poster. 

This sentence came out of a student question in an ESL class I taught
here in New York a few weeks ago. And our discussion is still going
on. Great, isn't it? I've passed this along to the students in this
advanced ESL course.

Best,
Howard




CyberCypher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> John Ramsay <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote on 10 Nov 2003:
> 
> > 
> > 
> > Einde O'Callaghan wrote:
> > 
> >> Michael wrote:
> >> >
> >> > "Howard Sage" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> >> > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >> >
> >> >>Here is a sentence a studentcomposed and about which the class
> >> >>disagreed:
> >> >>
> >> >>     Children are our future, our seed, and they are very
> >> >>     important to 
> >> >>us.
> >> >>
> >> >>Is "seed" correct or should it read "seeds"? Or, alternatively,
> >> >>does it depend on how one treats "children," as a single entity
> >> >>or all the individuals in the group?
> >> >>
> >> >>Howard Sage
> >> >
> >>  > Howard,
> >>  >
> >>  > Considering that you use the plural "they" in the second
> >>  > clause, I believe it would have to be "seeds."
> >>  >
> >> "Seed" is a somewhat old-fashioned synonym for descendants,
> >> particularly children - as Franke has pointed out earlier it is
> >> actually used as a plural collective (wihthout an "s"). It is
> >> quite common in British English to treat collectives as if they
> >> were plurals. 
> >>
> > 
> > Macbeth : For Banquo's issue have I fil'd my mind...
> >        To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!'
> > 
> > Issue and seed singular; them and kings plural.
> > 
> > All refer to the same thing.
> 
> Yes, and they are all quite plural here, not a one of them singular. 
> If you remember the witches' prophecy, they said that Banquo would be 
> the father of kings, so his "issue" is a plural, his "seed" is a 
> plural.
> 
> WS wasn't challenged as a writer of English. He knew quite well that 
> "issues" and "seeds" would have sounded ludicrous there.