Do we put on out coat or coats?

Some grammar rules (and embarrassing mistakes!) transcend the uniqueness of different regions and style guides. This new International Grammar section by OnlineBookClub.org ultimately identifies those rules thus providing a simple, flexible rule-set, respecting the differences between regions and style guides. You can feel free to ask general questions about spelling and grammar. You can also provide example sentences for other members to proofread and inform you of any grammar mistakes.

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Helen_Combe
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Do we put on out coat or coats?

Post by Helen_Combe »

This sentence sounds odd either way.
‘we put on our coat’ sounds like everybody is climbing into one very big coat, while
‘We put on our coats’ sounds like everybody is putting on multiple coats.

I was taught in school that it should be ‘we put on our coat’ because there is only one coat per person.
I’ve since found that a lot of what I was taught in school was complete hooey.

Does anybody have a definitive answer?
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kfwilson6
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Post by kfwilson6 »

Coats, plural. I can't really provide a grammatical rule per se but logically speaking if I say my husband and I got our coats out of the closet, literally it is two coats so you need to reference all of them. Multiple subjects, multiple objects. I've never heard the singular used simply because it was only one per person.
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Post by Helen_Combe »

Thank you.
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Post by Alex Hughes »

it should be ‘we put on our coat’
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Post by Helen_Combe »

Xan Paragon wrote: 25 Apr 2018, 06:15 it should be ‘we put on our coat’
Well that’s what I was taught. Do you have any grammar website links that support it? I was never able to find one, hence the question.
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Post by Libs_Books »

We puts on our coatses, preciousssss.
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Post by Helen_Combe »

Libs_Books wrote: 27 Apr 2018, 11:51 We puts on our coatses, preciousssss.
Thank you, Gollum 😄
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Post by jackienourigat »

coats
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Post by aks9120 »

I would put on my coat but we would put on our coats. Since i have one coat but we would have more than one coat making it coats. Confusing,i know.i am pretty sure this is correct though.
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Post by Helen_Combe »

Thank you
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