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  1. These five people live in houses.
  2. These five people live in a house.

Each of them only lives in one house, but the second sentence can also be understood as all five of them live together in a single house. So, what should I say? I'm trying to point out the type of accommodation these people live in.

I constantly run into this situation and always have to spend some time deciding which I should use, not to mention the fact that I'm not sure which one is correct even after considering. Some other similar cases are:

  1. I've run through around 30 examples in 3 dictionaries and 90% of them include the word solely preceding a preposition; 9%, an adjective; and only 3%, a verb.

Should I change it to "prepositions", "adjectives", and "verbs"?

  1. There was an increase in the proportion of people who chose the university because of its proximity to their parental home. (Or should it be "homes"?)

P.S. I feel that the choice of plural and singular in these cases has something to do with whether I'm talking about the type of thing or the thing(s). I expanded on this under James's answer.

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  • 1
    (2) would normally be understood to mean that they all live together.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jul 10 at 16:24
  • What about 60% of the population here live in a house? I think we can only interpret this sentence as each person in that 60% lives in a house. I wonder if "houses" changes the meaning of the sentence.
    – An IELTS Learner
    Commented Jul 10 at 16:54
  • Personally, I would still prefer "60% of the population live in houses." The phrasing "60% of the population live in a house" would be understood, but only because the more natural interpretation is so unimaginable that it's instantly dismissible
    – YonKuma
    Commented Jul 11 at 15:06
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    to their parent's home.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jul 11 at 16:03

2 Answers 2

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People who live in glass houses ___

OP's sentence and my comments in italics.
1.These five people live in houses. (This sentence is correct. Famous proverb - People who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others..
For more clarity you can say- These five people live in their own houses).
2.These five people live in a house. (It means all' five people live in one single house.
Correct - Each of them lives in their own house.).
3.I've run through around 30 examples in 3 dictionaries and 90% of them include the word solely preceding a preposition; 9%, an adjective; and only 3%, a verb. (This sentence is correct as it is. No change required).
4.There was an increase in the proportion of people who chose the university because of its proximity to their parental home.
(parental home is correct. Example - New data from EU agency Eurofound shows a sharp increase in the number of young adults still living in their parental home)

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  • So, there's only one way to interpret each of these sentences? What would you say if each of the five people lived in several houses?
    – An IELTS Learner
    Commented Jul 11 at 14:56
  • You do not deal with the issue at all. There is no need to repeat the entire text from the OP but if you do, please do so more neatly.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jul 11 at 15:04
  • @AnIELTSLearner You have to mention how many houses each of them own. OR you can make a general statement - Each of these five people lives in more than one house.
    – James Mathai
    Commented Jul 11 at 15:07
  • Yes, they live in houses [not apartments]. etc.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jul 11 at 16:02
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    @AnIELTSLearner There's some slight ambiguity in "These five people live in a house," but native listeners have a strong lean towards the interpretation James Mathai provided. You would have to provide strong context to overcome it. "While they are very different, their separate dwellings have one similarity. Each of these five people lives in a house."
    – YonKuma
    Commented Jul 11 at 17:03
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Context:

You can't expect context from those two sentences. More would have to be said, either in a separate sentence or by adding something to them. I chose to add something. Of course, in speech where there is an ongoing conversation the context might be obvious but not here as written questions.

  1. These five people live in houses, not apartments.
  2. These five people live in a house down by the river.

However, the sentences are not ungrammatical as they are. These five people live in houses. These five people live in a house.

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  • Sour grapes, anyone?
    – Lambie
    Commented Jul 11 at 16:00
  • Upvoted. Your answer explained my question well. However, there's some more concern here, and I've expressed it under James's answer.
    – An IELTS Learner
    Commented Jul 12 at 0:40
  • @AnIELTSLearner Well, I'm done. There really is nothing more for me to say.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jul 12 at 19:34

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