The Ears Of A Rabbit
Oct 24th 2011 19:33
number-selection
(A) The ears of a rabbit are longer than those of a cat.
(B) The ear of a rabbit is longer than that of a cat.
(C) The ears of rabbits are longer than those of cats.
(D) A rabbit's ears are longer than a cat's.
(E) A rabbit's ear is longer than a cat's.
(F) The rabbit's ears are longer than the cat's.
(G) The rabbit's ear is longer than the cat's.
(H) Rabbits' ears are longer than cats'.
(I) Rabbits' ear is longer than cats'.
Would you mind telling me which sentence(s) you think sound(s) natural or not?
I'd appreciate your opinion!!
(B) The ear of a rabbit is longer than that of a cat.
(C) The ears of rabbits are longer than those of cats.
(D) A rabbit's ears are longer than a cat's.
(E) A rabbit's ear is longer than a cat's.
(F) The rabbit's ears are longer than the cat's.
(G) The rabbit's ear is longer than the cat's.
(H) Rabbits' ears are longer than cats'.
(I) Rabbits' ear is longer than cats'.
Would you mind telling me which sentence(s) you think sound(s) natural or not?
I'd appreciate your opinion!!
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(A) The ears of a rabbit are longer than those of a cat.grammatically correct but sounds a bit "stiff".
(B) The ear of a rabbit is longer than that of a cat.I don't think we'd use the singular as ears usually come in pairs.
(C) The ears of rabbits are longer than those of cats. OK
(D) A rabbit's ears are longer than a cat's. Good. What I'd say.
(E) A rabbit's ear is longer than a cat's. see B
(F) The rabbit's ears are longer than the cat's. Only if you are talking about a specific rabbit and a specific cat.
(G) The rabbit's ear is longer than the cat's. see F and B
(H) Rabbits' ears are longer than cats'. Good. Natural
(I) Rabbits' ear is longer than cats'. Doesn't sound right.
(A) The ears of a rabbit are longer than those of a cat. [Correct and natural, although I agree with Shiawase-san that it sounds a bit distant and clinical, as if rabbits and cats are just specimens to the speaker.]
(B) The ear of a rabbit is longer than that of a cat. [I find this more acceptable than Shiawase-san does. The reason it sounds a bit odd is that saying "a rabbit" focuses our attention on a single rabbit, which we expect to have two ears, and then saying "the ear" suggests that it is unique. I believe I have read similar sentences in older texts, however; it is, or was, a valid way of making a generalization.]
(C) The ears of rabbits are longer than those of cats. [Completely natural.]
(D) A rabbit's ears are longer than a cat's. [Also completely natural.]
(E) A rabbit's ear is longer than a cat's. [I think I prefer this slightly over (B). It is certainly an acceptable way of making a generalization.]
(F) The rabbit's ears are longer than the cat's. [I disagree with Shiawase-san here. To me, this seems very similar to (A).]
(G) The rabbit's ear is longer than the cat's. [This is very similar to (B).]
(H) Rabbits' ears are longer than cats'. [I would avoid this, especially when speaking aloud. It is clear that the first word in "rabbits' ears" is a plural possessive, because "rabbits", which sounds the same, does not make sense in front of "ears." However, we can only figure out that the word at the end of the sentence is a plural possessive because of the parallel structure. Aurally, the sentence could be processed as the absurd statement "Rabbits' ears are longer than cats." Alternative: Rabbit ears are longer than cat ears.]
(I) Rabbits' ear is longer than cats'. [This is the only sentence here which is simply unnatural. No native speaker of English would ever say or write this.]
I'd appreciate your opinion(s)!