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Two gates are correct. Which is correct: “both” or “both”, “both”, “both” or “both”? The most common mistakes in the use of word forms of the collective numeral “both”

To figure out which word should be used: “both” or “both”, you need to find out which one it refers to and what rules it obeys.

Varieties of numerals

As you know, there are two varieties and ordinal ones. In turn, these groups are also subdivided. In particular, quantitative numbers are divided into numerals denoting whole numbers, fractional and collective numbers. Delving deeper into the problem of which word - “both” or “both” - should be used in one context or another, we should dwell in more detail on one of the mentioned groups. These will be The word “both” with all its word forms refers to them.

Collective numbers are not for documents and orders!

Scientists call this group a semantic variety of cardinal numerals, which is mainly used in colloquial speech. Indeed, it is unlikely that you will find the words “both” or “both” in a document, and if such an incident does occur, it will immediately fall into the section “You can’t make this up on purpose!” or “Pearls of Leaders.” It is enough to imagine a similar document: “A. V. Petrov and V. G. Sidorov were repeatedly warned that smoking is strictly prohibited on the territory of the plant, but they continue to ignore safety rules. Therefore, an official decision was made: both of them should be punished with a fine of 1,000 rubles.” The instructions for assembling a tent, for example, will look just as ridiculous if the author of the text uses the words “both” or “both”: “The kit includes two plastic spacers. Both of them need to be inserted into special grooves, positioned crosswise relative to each other.” Although nowadays such documents are not so rare. Unfortunately, the literacy of modern young people is falling, and quite rapidly. Therefore, even instructions with the expression “their wallpaper needs to be inserted into the grooves” or “their wallpaper needs to be inserted” today are quite possible to come across. Unfortunately, it must be admitted that many people do not know whether to write “both” or “obi”, and in which case the word “both” is used.

The difference between the word “both” and all other collective numerals

Some scientists are inclined to attribute this word to And debates around it are still ongoing. And this happens because, unlike all other collective numerals, it changes according to gender and can be combined not only with animate nouns, but also with all others. For example:

The vegetation on both banks of the river was lush - the noun “banks” is inanimate, masculine, so “both” is also masculine.
Both girls were dressed in beautiful bright dresses - the noun “girls” is animate, feminine, so the word “both” is used in the feminine form.

Declension of the collective numeral "both"

All communication words in a sentence change by case. The collective numeral “both” is also declined, and in three variants, according to the gender of the noun with which it is used. However, the change in cases in the neuter gender completely coincides with the masculine forms, so you should not focus on this option. This collective numeral is declined in the same way as a full soft adjective in the plural. You should also remember that the stem in the masculine gender will be obo-, and in the feminine gender it will be oba-.

I. p. - both (m. b.), both (f. b.).

R. p. - both (m. r.), both (f. r.).

D. p. - both (m. b.), both (f. b.).

V. p. - both (m. r.), both (f. r.).

T. p. - both (m. b.), both (f. b.).

P. p. - both (m. b.), both (f. b.).

The most common mistakes in the use of word forms of the collective numeral “both”

Question: In the given sentences, find errors in the use of numerals. Correct the sentences. Explain your correction. The cosmonauts successfully completed the task, having worked on the Mir space station for 253 days. There were four women among the deputies. The cars stood one and a half meters apart from each other. They had to urgently post guards at both gates. During the day, the deputy managed to receive and listen to thirty-four people. According to the invoice, 22 scissors should have been issued to the studio. The bank's cash desk had two hundred three hundred fifty-four thousand rubles. The breast contains 32.2 percent proteins in its cap. This year the city celebrated its six hundredth anniversary. He had to limit himself to three thousand two hundred and forty rubles. The whole thing took no more than a couple of minutes. We were only a day and a half late. There was still some ambiguity in his words. There was half a huge watermelon on the table. Three professors gave lectures to students. There was a dense forest on both sides.

In the given sentences, find errors in the use of numerals. Correct the sentences. Explain your correction. The astronauts successfully completed the task, having worked on the Mir space station for 253 days. There were four women among the deputies. The cars stood one and a half meters apart from each other. They had to urgently post guards at both gates. During the day, the deputy managed to receive and listen to thirty-four people. According to the invoice, 22 scissors should have been issued to the studio. The bank's cash desk had two hundred three hundred fifty-four thousand rubles. The breast contains 32.2 percent proteins in its cap. This year the city celebrated its six hundredth anniversary. He had to limit himself to three thousand two hundred and forty rubles. The whole thing took no more than a couple of minutes. We were only a day and a half late. There was still some ambiguity in his words. There was half a huge watermelon on the table. Three professors gave lectures to students. There was a dense forest on both sides.

Answers:

The cosmonauts successfully completed the task, working on the Mir space station for 253 days. Among the deputies there were four women (four women) - the collective numeral "four" is not used with feminine nouns - replace it with the cardinal numeral "four". The cars stood one and a half meters apart from each other. It was necessary to urgently post sentries at both gates (at both gates) - in relation to the feminine gender. During the day, the deputy managed to receive and listen to thirty-four people (thirty-four people) - the compound numeral must be in the nominative case, “person” - in the genitive singular case. According to the invoice, 22 scissors for the studio should have been issued (twenty-three pieces of scissors). The bank's cash desk had two hundred three hundred fifty-four thousand rubles (two hundred thousand three hundred fifty-four rubles). The breast contains 32.2 percent of proteins (percent) in its cap - in the singular genitive case. This year the city celebrated its sesquicentenary (sex hundredth anniversary). He had to limit himself to three thousand two hundred and forty rubles (two hundred). The whole thing took no more than a couple of minutes (two minutes) - you need to use a cardinal number. We were only a day and a half late (one and a half days). There was still some ambiguity (ambiguity) in his words. There was half a huge watermelon on the table (half). Three professors (three professors) gave lectures to students - you need to use a cardinal number, not a collective one. On both sides there was a dense forest (on both sides) - agree by gender - female.