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Which of the following options is better? Do the two choices reflect any difference in meaning?

"Matters regarding comments deletion"

or

"Matters regarding comment deletion"

--Assuming the intended meaning is "Matters regarding [deletion of comments]"?

Running list of related and duplicate questions:

Pluralization rules with prepositional phrases

Plural nouns in nominal compounds

When are attributive nouns plural?

https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/85654/how-can-i-explain-to-a-non-native-why-the-plural-of-a-noun-isnt-used-adjectival

SAH
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1 Answers1

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--Assuming the intended meaning is "Deletion of comments"?

comments - Since it is in plural form, Comments Deletion is correct usage.

Edit:

"Matters regarding comments deletion"

(Various) Matters regarding deletion of (multiple) comments

"Matters regarding comment deletion"

(Various) Matters regarding deletion of (a) comment

Hence, the first sentence will convey the intended meaning

BiscuitBoy
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  • But what would be the difference in meaning? (Please see my edits to the question.) – SAH Dec 09 '15 at 12:13
  • @SAH - See my updated answer, please. – BiscuitBoy Dec 09 '15 at 12:22
  • But the tricky part is that "Deletion of Comments" implies a global matter, not just an individual comment(s)' being deleted. KWIM? – SAH Dec 09 '15 at 12:24
  • Can you provide context and a proper sentence? i am unable to understand. From your example, only the position of the subject and verb changes. Going by the intended meaning, it should take the plural form – BiscuitBoy Dec 09 '15 at 12:37
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    When used as adjectives, many nouns appear in the singular even though their meaning is semantically plural. For example, a grocery list and not a groceries list (you're usually buying groceries and not a single grocery), a book store (they undoubtedly have more than one book in stock), and a horse race (you can't have a race if there's only one horse). I would argue that comment deletion is *not* incorrect, and in fact is the more usual form in English. – Peter Shor Dec 10 '15 at 18:09