On 5 Nov 2019, Wols Lists spake thusly:
> 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.
>
> English never "doubles up" as far as I'm aware (and I bet someone comes
> up with an obscure example where it does :-)
Doubling up, I'm not sure of, but pluralizing an unexpected word can
happen. Borrowed noun phrases from other languages that have adjectives
following nouns are one case I can think of. e.g. A court martial -> two
courts martial. But frankly even most native English speakers get this
wrong, so you could well consider this to be an example of 19th-century
grammatical pettifoggery that doesn't actually resemble the grammar
encoded inside native speakers' brains ("court martials" doesn't sound
that wrong to *me*, sorry 19th-century grammarians).
> (My exception? "never", and "not ever" are the same.
They are similar, but 'not ever' is often more emphatic. :)
