You are still left with your own face and figure, and you cannot trade those in for different ones.
In the sentence, what does the word 'ones' refer to? Does it refer to 'faces and figures' or 'face and figure'?
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What do you think the difference in meaning would be? "face and figure" is already plural, which is why "ones" refers to them.– stangdonCommented Apr 4, 2017 at 11:52
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I think that 'different ones' means 'different faces and figures' in the sentence.– thein lwinCommented Apr 4, 2017 at 13:06
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2 Answers
In your example
ones
refers to "face and figure"
You are still left with your own face and figure, and you cannot trade those in for a different face and figure.
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1To elaborate to address "faces and figures" in the question. If it was just "face" or just "figure", it would be ",,,for a different one." Each "one" refers to a different part of the anatomy, which is why "ones" is plural in the sentence. But even if it was referring to just one part of the anatomy, the "different one" would mean "different example" or "replacement"; the meaning of "one", in this case, is not a reference to a numerical count. Commented Apr 4, 2017 at 6:09
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Thanks, Peter. I'd like to know whether 'ones' also refers to 'faces and figures'. Commented Apr 4, 2017 at 7:36
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"A different face" = "a different one", "different faces" = "different ones"; "a different figure" = "a different one", "different figures" = "different ones"; "different face and figure" = "different ones". I like "those bananas and apples" = "I like those ones".– PeterCommented Apr 5, 2017 at 17:57
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I think 'different face and figure ' is an ungrammatical phrase. So it must be 'different faces and figures'. ' The phrase 'different ones' in my OP means 'different faces and figures'. Commented Apr 9, 2017 at 7:34
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"A different face and figure" is perfectly grammatical and correct since one can only have a single face and *a single figure. The plural "ones" is for face *and figure.– PeterCommented Apr 9, 2017 at 21:30
You are still left with your own face and figure, and you cannot trade those in for different ones.
ones redirect to those, and those redirect to face and figure.
Since ones is the plural form of one, the meaning you redirect to should be plural too.
Thus, the meaning is: faces and figures iirc.
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"face and figure" is two things, so that's plural already - it doesn't have to be "faces and figures" :)– psmearsCommented Apr 4, 2017 at 10:23
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@psmears Actually, We do not know. If that was the case, it would mean 'faces and figures'. Commented Apr 4, 2017 at 10:31
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I don't think you've understood what I'm saying. "Face" is one thing, "figure" is one thing, but "face and figure" makes two things, so needs a plural - so it could be either "faces and figures" or "face and figure". The fact that "ones" is present and is plural does not imply that it must be "faces and figures".– psmearsCommented Apr 4, 2017 at 12:40