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Accounts receivables and accounts payables
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hhgygy
Sep 17, 2014, 11:49:25 AM9/17/14
to
Hi native speakers.
I've been translating financial and accounting documents for ages but I just realized that many people use accounts receivable and accounts payable in a way that they also pluralize the ending words like accounts receivableS and accounts payableS. Is it grammatically correct?
Thank you
I've been translating financial and accounting documents for ages but I just realized that many people use accounts receivable and accounts payable in a way that they also pluralize the ending words like accounts receivableS and accounts payableS. Is it grammatically correct?
Thank you
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Peter Duncanson [BrE]
Sep 17, 2014, 12:41:02 PM9/17/14
to
On Wed, 17 Sep 2014 08:49:25 -0700 (PDT), hhgygy <hhg...@gmail.com>
wrote:
>Hi native speakers.
>
>I've been translating financial and accounting documents for ages but I just realized that many people use accounts receivable and accounts payable in a way that they also pluralize the ending words like accounts receivableS and accounts payableS. Is it grammatically correct?
>Thank you
The words "receivable" and "payable" are adjectives. In English
adjectives are not pluralized.
Normally in English an adjective is put in front of the noun it is
qualifying. So following that normal order the phrases would be
"receivable account" and "payable account" for the singular, and
"receivable accounts" and "payable accounts" for the plural.
The phrases "accounts receivable" and "accounts payable" are specialist
terms and do not have the adjective before the noun. It is possible that
those who write "accounts receivables" and "accounts payables" are not
thinking about the structure of the phrases and are simply adding a "s"
at the end in the same way that we would put an "s" on the end of
"<adjective(s)> <noun>" to make it plural.
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
wrote:
>Hi native speakers.
>
>I've been translating financial and accounting documents for ages but I just realized that many people use accounts receivable and accounts payable in a way that they also pluralize the ending words like accounts receivableS and accounts payableS. Is it grammatically correct?
>Thank you
adjectives are not pluralized.
Normally in English an adjective is put in front of the noun it is
qualifying. So following that normal order the phrases would be
"receivable account" and "payable account" for the singular, and
"receivable accounts" and "payable accounts" for the plural.
The phrases "accounts receivable" and "accounts payable" are specialist
terms and do not have the adjective before the noun. It is possible that
those who write "accounts receivables" and "accounts payables" are not
thinking about the structure of the phrases and are simply adding a "s"
at the end in the same way that we would put an "s" on the end of
"<adjective(s)> <noun>" to make it plural.
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Tony Cooper
Sep 17, 2014, 1:00:20 PM9/17/14
to
>Hi native speakers.
>
>I've been translating financial and accounting documents for ages but I just realized that many people use accounts receivable and accounts payable in a way that they also pluralize the ending words like accounts receivableS and accounts payableS. Is it grammatically correct?
>Thank you
While I'm not an accountant, as a (former) business owner I've
>
>I've been translating financial and accounting documents for ages but I just realized that many people use accounts receivable and accounts payable in a way that they also pluralize the ending words like accounts receivableS and accounts payableS. Is it grammatically correct?
>Thank you
reviewed a lot of financial statements. I listed my Accounts
Receivable and my Accounts Payable. However, in discussing them, I
referred to "Receivables" and "Payables". It's only when the word
"Accounts" is dropped that the second word is a plural.
I've never seen both words pluralized at the same time.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando FL
Peter Duncanson [BrE]
Sep 17, 2014, 1:42:23 PM9/17/14
to
On Wed, 17 Sep 2014 17:41:02 +0100, "Peter Duncanson [BrE]"
<ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
>"<adjective(s)> <noun>" to make it plural.
Sorry. That could be confusing.
<ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
>"<adjective(s)> <noun>" to make it plural.
<adjective(s)> stands for one or more adjectives.
Steve Hayes
Sep 18, 2014, 1:04:42 AM9/18/14
to
>Hi native speakers.
>
>I've been translating financial and accounting documents for ages but I just realized that many people use accounts receivable and
And what?
>
>I've been translating financial and accounting documents for ages but I just realized that many people use accounts receivable and
You need to fix your line lengths, or learn to use the "Enter" key if you are
using the lame Google Groups editor that can't do wordwrap.
.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
Stan Brown
Sep 18, 2014, 6:58:36 AM9/18/14
to
On Wed, 17 Sep 2014 17:41:02 +0100, Peter Duncanson [BrE] wrote:
> The phrases "accounts receivable" and "accounts payable" are specialist
> terms and do not have the adjective before the noun. It is possible that
> those who write "accounts receivables" and "accounts payables" are not
> thinking about the structure of the phrases and are simply adding a "s"
> at the end in the same way that we would put an "s" on the end of
> "<adjective(s)> <noun>" to make it plural.
All correct (as well as the parts I snipped".
> The phrases "accounts receivable" and "accounts payable" are specialist
> terms and do not have the adjective before the noun. It is possible that
> those who write "accounts receivables" and "accounts payables" are not
> thinking about the structure of the phrases and are simply adding a "s"
> at the end in the same way that we would put an "s" on the end of
> "<adjective(s)> <noun>" to make it plural.
Those people (if they exist) may also be influenced by the shortcut
words "receivables" and "payables", nouns used in place of "accounts
receivable" and "accounts payable".
Those short nouns, in turn, get used as adjectives, so that an
employee may be a "payables clerk" or "receivables clerk".
But I can think of no circumstance under which "accounts
receivables" or "accounts payables" would be correct, and I've never
seen or heard either.
--
"The difference between the /almost right/ word and the /right/ word
is ... the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning."
--Mark Twain
Stan Brown, Tompkins County, NY, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com
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