I would like to paraphrase a sentence:
"This is how the costs of each course should be."
So my idea was:
"This is how the price/prices per course should be."
What are the differences between singular + per vs. plural + per?
Or
If you have better paraphrases, you're very welcome to share them.
Thank you very much :)
I don't know where you got the original sentence, but it's odd in two ways.
The "costs" of "each". This implies that each course has more than one cost. This is possible. There may be a cost for full-time students and a different cost for part-time students, etc. But I wonder if the intent was not that each course has one cost. There are many costs, but only one for each course.
"how the costs should be" Normally we would say "what the costs should be" or "how much the costs should be". "How" indicates a method, like "how to bake a cake" or "how we will find our way out". A cost does not normally have a method. It has an amount. Oh, another possibility is that the writer meant, "how the costs will be determined".
As to your paraphrase, the most likely wording is, "This is what the price per course should be." Other wordings are possible depending on just what you're trying to say.
I don't know where you got the original sentence, but it's odd in two ways.
The "costs" of "each". This implies that each course has more than one cost. This is possible. There may be a cost for full-time students and a different cost for part-time students, etc. But I wonder if the intent was not that each course has one cost. There are many costs, but only one for each course.
"how the costs should be" Normally we would say "what the costs should be" or "how much the costs should be". "How" indicates a method, like "how to bake a cake" or "how we will find our way out". A cost does not normally have a method. It has an amount. Oh, another possibility is that the writer meant, "how the costs will be determined".
As to your paraphrase, the most likely wording is, "This is what the price per course should be." Other wordings are possible depending on just what you're trying to say.
By Jay.
Comments:
price per course makes no sense (as I told you before). – michael.hor257k yesterday
Can you suggest me any other word forms please? @michael.hor257k, I'm still curious why "10 dollars per person" is acceptable, but "price per course" is not? They even have the same word orders "10 dollars" = "price" and "person = course". – hbtpoprock 19 hours ago
Because 10 dollars is a quantity, and price is not. I cannot suggest any alternatives, because I don't know what you're trying to say. – michael.hor257k 19 hours ago
But "10 dollars" is actually a price, isn't it? LOL I'm trying to paraphrase it, that's all because it's a part of my exam given by my teacher. @michael.hor257k – hbtpoprock 19 hours ago
No, 10 dollars is an amount. It is not the same as price. When I pay you 10 dollars, I give you an amount of money; I don't give you a price. – michael.hor257k 19 hours ago
What if I use ". . . the price for every course . . .", does this make more sense? @michael.hor257k – hbtpoprock 19 hours ago
It depends on the missing context. In some contexts, it could work. And you'd probably prefer to say the price of every course in most of them. – michael.hor257k 19 hours ago
And "the price" should be singular since a course has only one price otherwise a course will have many prices, right? @michael.hor257k – hbtpoprock 18 hours ago
Yes. Unless you have multiple prices per course (see what I did there?) - for example, one price for takeaway and another price to dine in. – michael.hor257k 18 hours ago
Ty, @michael.hor257k, I appreciated it – hbtpoprock 18 hours ago
The difference between singular and plural is what it usually is: if there's only one, use singular, if there's more than one, use plural. So if all the prices are the same, then there's only one price, so it should be "price". If different courses have different prices, then it should be "prices".
