I think that the sentence:
How many telephones do you have?
is incorrect.
I don't have a reason, but I feel like it should be
How many telephone do you have?
instead.
Any one care to shed some light? Thanks.
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That is super quick and clarifying, thank you so much!– jxhycCommented Feb 4, 2015 at 4:44
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Wait a few minutes before accepting an answer, as it may stop drawing attention from other answerers with better answers. But, you're welcome!– PyraminxCommented Feb 4, 2015 at 4:44
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Alright. I am new to this website. :)– jxhycCommented Feb 4, 2015 at 4:46
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1Check Unit 8 - Lesson 36 - Countable Nouns vs Uncountable Nouns How much? vs. How many? and how much vegetables or how many vegetables? which should be helpful. It is about how many {countable noun} which will be plural vs.*how much* {uncountable noun} which will be singular. I would write an explanation but you already accepted a correct answer...– user3169Commented Feb 4, 2015 at 4:59
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1@Pyraminx Read Not so fast! (When should I accept my answer?) for a good explanation.– user3169Commented Feb 4, 2015 at 5:08
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1 Answer
How many telephone do you have?
This sentence is incorrect because it is like saying this:
I have some telephone.
This would mean that you have a part of a telephone, rather than some whole telephones. Usually, no one would have a part of a telephone, unless half of one breaks and gets lost.
On the other hand,
How many telephones do you have?
is correct because it is equal to saying this:
I have some telephones.
This means that you have multiple telephones, not a part of one.
If you wanted to ask someone how big of a part of a telephone someone has (which is the implication of the sentence you feel is correct), you would actually replace the 'many' with 'much.'
How much telephone do you have?
would be a very unlikely sentence in which you are asking about parts of telephone. Or, maybe if you were mutated into half telephone half-human, it would ask about the percentage of the mutation into a telephone (which is probably 30 times more unlikely than the first one).
If you just want to ask someone how many they have, use many and the plural of telephone.
How many telephones do you have?
I have three telephones.
