'They ride a bike.' vs 'They ride bikes.'
I don't know the difference between these.
When each person rides a bike one by one, Can I use this sentence? >> 'They ride a bike.'
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1Well, what do you want it to mean? They ride their own bikes? They always ride different bikes? How often do they ride? Same question with we wear suits vs we wear a suit. This is not a full sentence yet, so we don't have enough information to decide -- They ride a bike every day, every one of them; no bus riders is just fine, since ride a bike is treated as an uninflectable action verb. On the other hand, They ride bikes because they don't have cars treats bikes as a parallel with cars. – John Lawler Apr 25 '19 at 02:46
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well... I just thought these sentences are used in different cases, grammatical or contextual. This is the sentence I have. >> "They ride a bike every day." I was confused. Because I learned that if the subject is plural, the word after the verb is also plural. – 송화연 Apr 25 '19 at 03:26
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You may be interested in the discussion under a similar question about cell phones: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/301625/theyre-using-a-cell-phone-vs-theyre-using-cell-phones – Shoe Apr 25 '19 at 07:51
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In English, generically engaging in an activity can be given in the singular form.
- play a musical instrument
- ride a bike
- mow a lawn
- cook a meal
- drive a car
- crank out an article [write an article]
- take a taxi
- make a profit
It can be argued that all the examples above link the verb to the item to express engaging in an activity. The nouns are "intimately" related to the activity.
- Many people play a musical instrument.
- Most children here learn to ride a bike.
- Mowing a lawn is not something I enjoy.
- He likes to cook a meal from time to time.
They usually ride a bike to that location. [a general activity]
Compare:
They usually hitch a ride to that location. [a general activity]
They ride company bikes, not rental ones. [the plural is not about the activity per se, it is about the type of thing used for it.]
And to show the question:
They ride bikes. They don't ride horses. [bikes is contrasted with horses]
They ride a bike [when they feel like it.] [the activity]
When the emphasis in the sentence is on a general activity, the verb + a + item can be used. When the emphasis is not on the activity but on the item, the plural is used.
That man likes to make a profit. [general] That man likes to make profits. [specific]
In sum: the difference, therefore, is between a general idea versus a specific idea.
Lambie
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I disagree with the comment. Both are correct full and complete English sentences. They have a subject and a verb.
Well, the subject and the verb are clear enough. The direct object is then either a bike or bikes. If they share riding one bike (one at a time or at the same time), then the singular is correct, because there is only one bike. If there are multiple bikes that they ride, then the plural is correct.
McKay
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1If the sentences were "They ride a bike to get to work" and "They ride bikes to get to work", I think most people would interpret them as being equivalent. That is, there are multiple people each riding a different bike to work. In the case of the first sentence, it would be interpreted as a contraction of "they each ride a bike to get to work" rather than "they share a single bike to get to work". – KillingTime Apr 25 '19 at 06:28
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@KillingTime While I agree with you that "most people" would interpret them as being equivalent, it is nevertheless incorrect (from a prescriptivist point of view) to use the singular "bike" to refer to multiple bikes. Having an "each" clause be implicit reduces the precision power of the language. – McKay Apr 28 '19 at 04:36