On 2019/11/7 12:45 上午, Wols Lists wrote: > On 05/11/19 13:15, Coly Li wrote: >> On 2019/11/5 9:00 下午, Wols Lists wrote: >>> On 05/11/19 12:44, Coly Li wrote: >>>>>> are devices number before and after the grow operation, "* 2" comes >>>>>> >>>>>> device numbers >>>> Copied. I am not sure whether it should be "device numbers" or maybe >>>> "devices numbers", this confuses me *^_^* >>>> >>> It is "device numbers". >>> >>> The trick for English is to ask yourself what is the singular form. Here >>> it is "device number". Then convert that to plural by adding an "s" at >>> the end. >>> >> >> Let me explain why I am confused. >> >> Because the raid0 device can be combined by many disks, there will be >> multiple component devices, so I think the number should be "component >> disks number". Then I mentioned old and new numbers, there are two >> numbers, so I am not sure whether I should use "devices numbers", >> because devices means multiple component devices, and numbers means >> there are two numbers (one for old, one for new). >> >>> English never "doubles up" as far as I'm aware (and I bet someone comes >>> up with an obscure example where it does :-) >>> >> >> By the above explanation, is it still "device numbers" ? >> > Yup I think it is :-) > > It gets complicated ... :-) But I presume you mean a device can have two > different numbers, one from before the change and one after. In which > case it is "device numbers". > > "devices numbers" is grammatically wrong full stop, but you could have a > possessive device(s), as in "device's numbers" (singular device) or > "devices' numbers" (several devices). > > English is a tricky language, not because it has that many or > complicated rules (it doesn't), but because it's stolen so many words > and rules from other languages that you're forever tripping up on > something that doesn't follow the usual rules ... :-) Hi Wols, Thank you for the detailed explanation. Then it seems "devices' numbers" is easier for me to understand *^_^* I will post another updated version. Good to learn English language knowledge here :-) Coly Li -- Coly Li
