# Pluralization question

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/pluralization-question/181481>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [January 12, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/pluralization-question/181481 "2010-01-12T16:57:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bigdaddy71](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@bigdaddy71](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bigdaddy71)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/pluralization-question/181481/1 "2010-01-12T16:57:28Z")

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Is there a way to pluralize the have/has section of a sentence easily?

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**Author:** ![bigdaddy71](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@bigdaddy71](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bigdaddy71)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/pluralization-question/181481/2 "2010-01-12T17:08:35Z")

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Disclaimer: english isn’t my best subject.

Have and has don’t have a plural, it depends on the target

I have  
You have  
We have  
She has  
He has

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**Author:** ![bigdaddy71](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@bigdaddy71](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bigdaddy71)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/pluralization-question/181481/3 "2010-01-12T17:12:41Z")

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Talking more like “You have X work/works that (have/has) been created”

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**Author:** ![bigdaddy71](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@bigdaddy71](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bigdaddy71)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/pluralization-question/181481/4 "2010-01-12T17:46:47Z")

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Chris H. wrote:

> Talking more like “You have X work/works that (have/has) been created”

Sure, just test the value of X.

If you’re using gettext for i18n, look at the various methods named  
things like n\_.

Best,  
–Â  
Marnen Laibow-Koser  
[http://www.marnen.org](http://www.marnen.org)  
removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bigdaddy71](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@bigdaddy71](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bigdaddy71)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/pluralization-question/181481/5 "2010-01-12T18:11:01Z")

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Chris H. wrote:

> Actually the X work/works is the text coming from the pluralization  
> helper.

…which you may not want to use if i18n is going to happen.

However, you should be able to give the inflector a new special case (if  
it doesn’t already handle this correctly) where ‘has’ is singular and  
‘have’ is plural.

> On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 10:46 AM, Marnen Laibow-Koser

Best,  
–Â  
Marnen Laibow-Koser  
[http://www.marnen.org](http://www.marnen.org)  
removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bigdaddy71](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@bigdaddy71](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bigdaddy71)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/pluralization-question/181481/6 "2010-01-12T18:05:22Z")

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Actually the X work/works is the text coming from the pluralization  
helper.

On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 10:46 AM, Marnen Laibow-Koser