Re: (s)

["Parks, Beverly" <ParksB -at- EMH1 -dot- HQISEC -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL>]

I agree that you should avoid using "(s)"; it looks stilted and is
seldom if ever necessary. However, with just that one sentence and no
context, it is hard to say whether to go with the singular or plural. In
general, I think that since you even considered the possibility of using
"(s)", then you should probably go with the plural "bottles are".

When actual quantity is not known, I believe that it is easier for
readers to infer a single item from a plural reference than the other
way around. A singular reference is absolute, whereas a plural is
undefined (unless, of course, you specify a number.)

Bev Parks
parksb -at- emh1 -dot- hqisec -dot- army -dot- mil
The Friendly Faces of TECHWR-L -
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>----------
>From:  McDermott, Stephen W[SMTP:Stephen -dot- McDermott -at- PSS -dot- BOEING -dot- COM]
>
>Use the singular.  You should avoid the use of "(s)"'s.
>
>If it is absolutely necessary to communicate to the end user that more
>than one bottle may be present, I would devote a separate sentence to
>that fact.
>
>> ----------
>> From:         Gaylon Cox[SMTP:gcox -at- PDXINC -dot- COM]
>>
>> What is the appropriate verb (is/are) to use after a noun such as:
>> The bottle(s) (is/are????) made of glass.
>> --
>

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