Why I can't say "These are a man's wallets"?
If I found several shirts, a pair of shoes, a pair of socks or clothes on the sofa in a abandoned house, I can say:
- I found a man's shirts
- These are a man’s shoes.
- These are a man’s socks.
- These are a man’s clothes.
They sounds like I am pretty sure the shirts / shoes / socks / clothes all belong to the same man (although I don't know who he is). But why I can't say "These are a man's wallets" if I found several wallets and I thought that the wallets all belong to the same man?
Thanks!
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Answers · 6
1
You’re correct (grammar and reasoning), but it’s still a bit unusual. If we don’t know who the man is, we usually some “some man” instead of “a man”, so “I found some man’s shirts”. Note that if you’re supposed to know who the man is, it can sound rude to say “some man” — you would normally say his name.
0
You can say these are a man's wallets but men don't have more than one wallet in the United States. (Or better to day, it's very rare that a man has more than one wallet, given that a wallet is where someone keeps documents like a driver's license and credit cards, and therefore more than one is not necessary. In the United States, wallets are not fashion pieces that one changes from day to say.) So if a man had multiple wallets your sentence would be correct, but that's an unusual situation and therefore it sounds odd.
0
It is because the other objects are plural (more than one) a man would only have one wallet. Hence these are would change to this is. This is a mans wallet.
0
You can say say this; there is no error in the sentence if these are multiple wallets that belong to one man. If someone previously told you that this is incorrect, chances are this person didn't realize that you were referring to multiple wallets, since it's probably a sentence that's uncommon and sounds kinda weird, even though there's no alternative way to say it.
0
I think it’s fine to say this. It just sounds a bit strange because most men only have one wallet, so it’s unusual to hear wallets discussed in plural form. Perhaps it’s different in non-English speaking countries.
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