Talk:whereabouts
Latest comment: 2 years ago by Jnestorius in topic Plurality
Plurality
[edit]There is considerable disagreement over whether the noun "whereabouts" is singular or plural. This page makes it sound like a settled issue, and that's not appropriate. The AP Style Guide, for instance, asserts that it depends on the subject of the sentence. For example, "The whereabouts of the snake is unknown", but "The whereabouts of the snakes are unknown". 67.136.133.82 19:18, 18 July 2012 (UTC)
- I agree that this page is mistaken in stating categorically that, when used as a noun, "whereabouts" is always a plural. In fact, Merriam-Webster gives this sentence as an example for usage: "about where : near what place <whereabouts is the house>" M-W does go on to say that as a noun it is plural, but singular or plural in construction.AirDale (talk) 06:18, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
- "About where" is an example of usage as an adverb, so that doesn't have any bearing on the issue at hand. Chuck Entz (talk) 12:56, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
I have updated accordingly, not sure the head... {{en-noun|whereabouts}} {{lb|en|usually|plurale tantum}} ...is optimal. Jnestorius (talk) 11:29, 7 October 2021 (UTC)
Conjunction
[edit]Near or in what place: trying to find whereabouts in the world we were. --Backinstadiums (talk) 22:34, 17 March 2021 (UTC)