# Confused about using the plural **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 27, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763 "2013-09-27T00:04:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/1 "2013-09-27T00:04:27Z")
Hi, I’m inclined to say : “It’s a myth that we only use 10% of our brain”. Is that wrong? Should it be "“It’s a myth that we only use 10% of our brain”. ? Confusing is the use of a plural after a possessive pronoun “our”. I’ve seen it used and not used. “We should take care of our bodies by exercising regularly” or “We should take care of our body by exercising regularly”. I look forward to your feedback. davidmich ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/2 "2013-09-27T00:12:14Z")
Both of your examples of the brain sentence are identical. And it truly is a myth. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/3 "2013-09-27T00:14:58Z")
I assume the example is supposed to be “brain” vs “brains.” I actually don’t know for certain which is considered more “correct.” I think both are acceptable, but I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/4 "2013-09-27T00:18:19Z")
Yeah, I would not blink at either sentence for the brain example, but I definitely prefer bodies for body in the second one and I don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/5 "2013-09-27T00:37:32Z")
If the people all collectively own one brain (e.g., freeway drivers during rush hour), then it would be singular. For example: “We should do everything we can for our family” means you are talking to people who share a family, whereas “we should do everything we can for our families” means everyone should take care of his/her own family. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/6 "2013-09-27T03:08:53Z")
In the “our brains” version, brain means the actual physical organ: it’s countable. “All our hard-earned dollars”. In the “our brain” version, brain means intelligence, mental ability: it’s uncountable. “All our money”. So, the confusion is not between the use of plural, but between countables and uncountables and between two definitions of the same word. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/7 "2013-09-27T04:17:24Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > In the “our brains” version, brain means the actual physical organ: it’s countable. “All our hard-earned dollars”. > > In the “our brain” version, brain means intelligence, mental ability: it’s uncountable. “All our money”. > > So, the confusion is not between the use of plural, but between countables and uncountables and between two definitions of the same word. I disagree. The use of “our brain” to mean “the brain that each of us has” is not strictly correct grammatically but is acceptable as an idiom and commonly understood. It’s like a yoga instructor facing 22 people and saying, “Raise your left leg!” Well, there are 22 left legs out there, but it’s idiomatic. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/8 "2013-09-27T05:59:38Z")
The “raise your leg” instruction is directed to each individual to raise his or her leg. Leg is not a collective noun. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/9 "2013-09-27T07:03:01Z")
We no longer use “thy”, so your can be a singular or plural reference. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/10 "2013-09-27T07:25:19Z")
Brain and brain. What is brain? (Sorry, but someone had to.) This is a really tricky one, because ‘brain’ and ‘brains’ can be used in the context of a single individual - (I guess a bit like ‘guts’) But even in the case of something more discrete, like legs, neither seems wrong: “All of you - please raise your left leg” “All of you - please raise your left legs” I don’t think either of those is actually wrong. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/11 "2013-09-27T07:45:42Z")
Thanks everyone. Yes I did mean to distinguish between “our brain” and “our brains”. It is necessary to pluralize the word here: “Let’s put our heads together” but: “Our bodies are not designed to sit in front of computers all day” “Our body is not designed to sit in front of the computer all day” Are both sentences acceptable? davidmich ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/12 "2013-09-27T07:49:00Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > Thanks everyone. Yes I did mean to distinguish between “our brain” and “our brains”. > > It is necessary to pluralize the word here: > “Let’s put our heads together” > > but: > “Our bodies are not designed to sit in front of computers all day” > “Our body is not designed to sit in front of the computer all day” > > Are both sentences acceptable? > > davidmich In that particular case, the second example doesn’t sound right - the first sentence is the one to use (or “Your body is not designed to sit in front of the computer all day”) ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/13 "2013-09-27T08:32:00Z")
I agree Mangetout. The second sentence does sound odd. The first one is fine. In the second one I can say: “Your body (not ‘our body’)is not designed to sit in front of the computer all day.” Thanks all. davidmich ---
**Author:** ![Tacit\_Knowledge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@Tacit\_Knowledge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tacit_Knowledge)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/14 "2013-09-27T08:43:50Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Brain and brain. What is brain? > > (Sorry, but someone had to.) > > This is a really tricky one, because ‘brain’ and ‘brains’ can be used in the context of a single individual - (I guess a bit like ‘guts’) > > But even in the case of something more discrete, like legs, neither seems wrong: > > “All of you - please raise your left leg” > “All of you - please raise your left legs” > > I don’t think either of those is actually wrong. Each of you, please raise your left leg. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/15 "2013-09-27T09:32:14Z")
> [@Tacit\_Knowledge](#): > > Each of you, please raise your left leg. Agreed - and in that case, “Each of you, raise your left legs” would be quite wrong (unless the audience is a nonhuman species where individuals have multiple left legs. Dogs, for example.) ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/16 "2013-09-27T09:35:36Z")
[Google suggests](http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=10%25+of+our+brain%2C10%25+of+our+brains&year_start=1970&year_end=2013&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=) that the “10% of our brain” is more popular (and was probably the original formation) but that “10% of our brains” follows a similar pattern of popularity but only started to be used ten years afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/17 "2013-09-27T11:51:32Z")
The “our” has to agree with the “we”. Compare: He uses only 10% of his brain You use only 10% of your brain But I have to say that I would say: They use only 10% of their brains So I would prefer: We use only 10% of our brains One other comment: the “only” is misplaced in the OP (called a “squinting modifier” since it can look either way). Yet another comment: It is indeed a myth and a silly one at that since the brain uses 25% of our energy supplies (when the body is resting) and the idea that we are wasting 90% of that is absurd. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/18 "2013-09-27T12:10:45Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > “All of you - please raise your left leg” > “All of you - please raise your left legs” > > I don’t think either of those is actually wrong. It’s not that leg or legs is wrong in that case, but the first should be “\*\*Each \*\*of you, raise you left leg”, not “All”. Then the plurality of people matches the plurality of legs. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/19 "2013-09-27T12:18:15Z")
It’s probably not the best example, because in that context, “All of you” is more or less a separate thing - a call for attention that could be replaced by ‘Hey!’, or “Simon Says…” and wouldn’t have to agree with anything at all. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763/20 "2013-09-27T12:24:24Z")
We need a second-person plural. Y’all (or youse guys) just doesn’t do the job. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confused-about-using-the-plural/669763.md?page=2)