Saturday, August 6, 2016

grammaticality - Plural in constructions like A's and B's theory/theories

I have gone through several threads here but haven't found an answer to my question.



In my paper, there are two theorists and each has a theory. Theorist A has theory 1 and theorist B has theory 2.



Can I use both example 1 and example 2 and express this fact?





1) A's and B's theory are worthwhile considering.
2) A's and B's theories are worthwhile considering.




I reckon that 1) is a form of ellipsis standing for A's (theory) and B's theory... Does 2) imply that both A and B have EACH devised more than one theory or that I include A's theory and B's theory to form the plural "theories"?



And on a similar note, Bohr has written one book on a subject and Gitman has written one book:





3) The Bohr and the Gitman volume are worthwhile considering.
4) The Bohr and the Gitman volumes are worthwhile considering.




Which one is correct?

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