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Just encountered with the following sentence and I don't understand why the noun "temperament" is in singular? I don't feel like it is an abstract noun - there are many kinds of temperaments as with many kinds of "strengths", the preceding noun in the sentence.

In both cases, effective conversation happens when individuals communicate through their own unique strengths and temperament."

source

Barmar
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Jane
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  • It's countable alright here. It's just in singular. Compare: "when individuals communicate each with their own eyes and mouth". Each individual has more than one eye, but only one mouth. Likewise, each individual can have several strengths, but only one temperament. – RegDwigнt Sep 25 '18 at 12:32
  • Thanks, RegDwight. But I find some would say in case we use a singular noun - e.g., their "girlfriend" - after "their", then we actually suggest that "they" share the same thing - e.g., the same girlfriend. Pls kindly advise. Source: https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/123565/noun-after-their-must-be-plural – Jane Sep 25 '18 at 15:07
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    @RegDwigнt I would say "mouths" there, since there are multiple people and therefore more than one mouth. You would be correct if you wrote "Each individual communicates with his eyes and mouth." – Barmar Sep 25 '18 at 19:15
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    @Barmar as I said, we have a dedicated question for just that. Some people prefer the singular, others the plural. Others still flip back and forth depending on the circumstances. – RegDwigнt Sep 25 '18 at 21:21
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    "After the therapy, eight children became able to crawl on their back" or "on their backs"? – RegDwigнt Sep 25 '18 at 21:22

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I think the sentence is wrong, and "temperament" should be plural. The sentence is referring to multiple people, who each have a different temperament.

The error is like due to thinking of each individual having multiple strengths, but just a single temperament. But the context is multiple individuals, so everything is multiplied (unless things are shared by the group, which is not the case here).

In order to express this difference, the context has to be reduced to single individuals, e.g.

Effective conversation happens when each individual communicates through their own unique strengths and temperament.

Barmar
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