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relation vs. relationship / singular or plural for "noodle(s)" and "lyric(s)" Hello native English speakers on iTalki, I had a couple of questions for you. 1) What is the difference between the word "relations" vs. "relationship"? If I wanted to say that I am close with my parents (which I am), should I say that I have good *relations* or *relationship* with my parents? 2) "noodle(s)" and "lyric(s)" When it comes to these two words (I'm sure there have been other words but I just can't think of them right now), I often hesitate to say them because I'm not sure if I'm supposed to add an -s at the end to make the words plural or if it's fine without the -s. Please let me know how I should use these words correctly. Thank you!
Apr 16, 2018 5:20 AM
Answers · 2
1
You would only use the "S" to pluralise the words noodle and lyric if you were making reference to more than one of them. Examples: "I dropped a noodle on the floor!" "These noodles are delicious." "I love this particular line (of lyric) in the song." "The lyrics in this song are so funny!" In all honesty, in native speech you are much more likely to hear the plural 'Lyrics' as more often than not a person is making reference to the entire song or piece of poetry.
April 16, 2018
1
Hi Erik, It would make more sense for you to say "I have a good relationship with my parents" rather than "I have good relations". The reason for this is because the word 'relations' would be more likely to be used to describe the way in which two or more people or things are connected, e.g: "The Ashmore family are distant relations of mine." You could say, "Relations are good between myself and my parents" but this phrasing is very formal and would not be a native way of speaking. You would typically find phrasing such as this in the discussion of politics, e.g. "Relations between Russia and the US have grown tense". I hope this helps :)
April 16, 2018
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