Pain in the English

Forum for the gray areas of the English language

“sources of” vs. “the source of”

June 11th, 2010 by Kathleen

Consider a scenario where a bloodstain was discovered and analyzed. It was determined the blood came from a single source. Joe is not the source of the blood. Jack is not the source of the blood. Which of the following statements is correct and why? Joe and Jack are excluded as SOURCES of the blood. Joe and Jack are excluded as THE SOURCE of the blood.

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3 Responses to ““sources of” vs. “the source of””

  1. zeenins says:

    This is an easy one — since they are looking for the source it should be singular, no?

    Current score: 1
  2. Amanda says:

    I agree with Zeenins. It’s singular.

    Current score: 1
  3. Excellent post thanks!

    Sent from my iPhone 4G

    Current score: 0

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