8.5. Grammatical Disagreement of Singular and Plural in English and Ukrainian

Abstract nouns denoting abstract general notions in Ukrainian, in English can be used in a concrete meaning and then become countable nouns. As such they can be used in plural:

A finely written novel about the lives and struggles of the people of Trinidad. (Newspaper)

Прекрасно написаний роман про життя й боротьбу народу Тринідаду.

In Ukrainian the word „боротьба“ doesn’t have any plural at all, and the word „життя“ in its broad meaning (as in this case) is not used in plural.

Analogous tasks emerge before the translator in the next examples:

“Never have we taken so many peaceful initiatives as in the past three years” president said. (Newspaper 1959)

„Ще ніколи ми не виявляли стільки разів мирну ініціативу, як за останні три роки“, – сказав президент.

In Ukrainian and Russian the word „ініціатива“ in the 50s did not have plural, but the interpreters and translators introduced the plural which has secured in language and sounds quite normal now.

This policy of strength involves serious risks.

Ця політика сили тягне за собою серйозні наслідки.

Abstract noun “risk” did not have plural at the time that article was written and therefore to convey the meaning of this sentence the countable noun “consequences” is used in translation. Nowadays the plural „ризики” sounds very normal both in spoken and written variants of Ukrainian language. But the interpreters are supposed to be the ones who have introduced plural into our language.

Sometimes in order to express correctly the thought the plural of a noun is a necessity; therefore not infrequently the translator introduces an additional word in plural. For instance, he has to do so when translating such words in plural, as “industries”, “policies”, sports, etc.: „галузі промисловості, різні політичні напрямки, види спорту“. The analogous phenomenon is observed in translating from Ukrainian, when noun in plural is rendered into English with adding special words:

поради – pieces of advice, дані – items of information, новини – pieces (items) of news, etc.

In some cases the use of singular in translation is caused by the fact, that the Ukrainian noun in singular is the part of a phrasal unit:

…should France and Britain go their separate ways.

…в тому випадку, якщо Франція й Англія підуть кожна своїм шляхом.

The use of plural would have violated the Ukrainian phrasal unit „йти своїм шляхом“. The adjective “separate” is rendered in Ukrainian by the pronoun „кожна“. Though, another translation with another phrase combination in plural is possible: „йти різними шляхами“.

Very often an opposite phenomenon takes place, when the English noun in singular corresponds to the Ukrainian noun in plural. It is characteristic of English language to use the words “eye, lip, ear, cheek, hand, foot” in singular. Such use is possible in Russian and Ukrainian, too, but much less frequently, e.g., in proverbs:

У него губа не дура.

Держи ухо востро.

У него глаз наметан.

Or in A. Pushkin’s „Медный всадник”:

Природой здесь нам суждено

В Европу прорубить окно,

Ногою твердой стать при море…

Or in M. Lermontov’s „Бородино”:

Скажи-ка дядя, ведь не даром

Москва, спаленная пожаром,

Французу отдана…

Or in the same poem:

…И слышно было до рассвета, как ликовал француз…

Here are some typical examples of such use in English:

Her cheek blanched.

Її щоки побіліли. Її щоки покрились блідістю.

Вона зблідла.

Young Jolion’s eye twinkled (J. Galsworthy, The Man of Property) В очах молодого Джоліона спалахнув вогник.

Your lip is trembling and what is there upon your cheek? (Ch. Dickens, A Christmas Carol) У вас тремтять губи, і що це у вас на щоках?

In the example below singular in English is used in its generic singular (родовому значенні) and has a generalizing character:

A government with a dollar in one hand and a gun in the other.

Уряд, у якого в одній руці долари, а в другій – зброя.

Уряд, в якого в одній руці батіг, а в іншій – бублик.

In the second translation the phrasal unit is used (compare the Russian „политика кнута и пряника”).

The noun in singular, used in generic meaning (a dollar), is rendered in the first case by the noun in plural (долари) and in the second (a gun) – by a collective noun in singular (зброя).

In a number of cases an English abstract noun having no plural, is rendered by a concrete noun in plural, e.g.:

The war plans of imperialism.

Воєнні плани імперіалістів.

In other cases rendering singular by plural is caused not by the fact, that a given Russian or Ukrainian noun has no plural, but by other reasons:

World public opinion has every reason to believe…

У людей всього світу є всі підстави вважати…

The pronoun every combines only with the noun in singular and possesses generalizing character. In Ukrainian and Russian this meaning of pronoun every, as usual, corresponds to the pronoun in plural (все); this is the reason why the word reason was translated by the noun in plural всі підстави.

Uncountable nouns in singular both in English and Ukrainian (сніг – snow, вода -water, пісок – sand, etc.) if used with stylistic effect in fiction and denote huge quantities of this stuff, are used in plural (сніги – snows, води – waters, піски – sands, etc.):

Сніги Кіліманджаро – Snows of Kilimanjaro,

Піски Сахари – Sands of Sahara desert

Глибини Тихого океану – Depths of pacific ocean

Голубі води Середземномор’я – Blue waters of Mediterranean

In Tyutchev’s poem:

Еще в полях белеет снег, а воды уж весной шумят…

In Fet’s poem:

Люблю её степей алмазные снега…

Any violation of rules is aimed at achieving some stylistic effect and becomes a device itself.

Questions for discussion:

1. What are the differences of singular and plural in English and Ukrainian?

2. How is plural of compound nouns formed?

3. What nouns are used only in singular and plural?

4. What kind of disagreement of plural and singular does the translator come across?