touched the boys on the head/heads

[diamondcutter]

The teacher touched the boys on the head/heads and encouraged them to work harder.

(Made by me)

I think “the head” is correct. Am I right?

 

[Tarheel]

The teacher patted the boys on their heads and encouraged them to work harder.

(Written by me.)

I think “the head” is correct. Am I right?

No.

 

[diamondcutter]

What about this sentence? Is it necessary to change “in the eye” to “in their eyes”?

If you want to hold someone's attention, look them directly in the eye but don't stare.

 

[Tarheel]

The expression is "look them in the eye".

 

[diamondcutter]

Thanks, Tarheel.

What about these sentences? Are they all correct?

1a. Tom hit Jack in the stomach.
1b. Tom hit Jack in his stomach.

2a. Tom hit Jack on the head.
2b. Tom hit Jack on his head.

 

[emsr2d2]

1a and 2a are the most natural. (1b and 2b aren't incorrect.)

 

[Glizdka]

Faced with such a terrible assault, Jack might want to retaliate by decking Tom in the schnoz. :-D

 

[Tarheel]

Well, that's the end of that friendship.
;-)

 

[emsr2d2]

The expression is "look them in the eye".

However, another common expression is "look into my/his/her/their eyes". That one doesn't work with the singular.

 

[probus]

Slang is notoriously tricky, even for someone as fluent and expert as you, Gliz. Therefore you (and all learners) should avoid it. To deck somebody is to knock them down. (They land on the deck, you see.) So you can punch someone in the schnozz but you cannot deck them in the schnozzola.

 

[slevlife]

Slang is notoriously tricky, even for someone as fluent and expert as you, Gliz. Therefore you (and all learners) should avoid it. To deck somebody is to knock them down. (They land on the deck, you see.) So you can punch someone in the scnozz but you cannot deck them in the schnozzola.

Eh... The other thing slang does is evolve. In my personal and internet circles, getting "decked in the face/nose" would be an acceptable and natural variation on the slang.

 

[Glizdka]

I thought deck meant just hitting someone really hard, like a verb version of the noun haymaker.

I picked it up from my friends, around the age of 30. Maybe it's a new use of the word. They use the exact phrase, deck in the schnoz(z).

 

[diamondcutter]

In #2, Tarheel said we should say this: The teacher patted the boys on their heads and encouraged them to work harder.

In COCA, I found 48 examples of “pat/hit/beat/bang/...them on the head” and only 29 examples of “pat/hit/beat/bang/...them on their heads”.

For the verb “pat”, there are 9 examples of “pat them on the head” and there are only 5 examples of “pat them on their heads” in COCA.

According to COCA, could I say that the pattern of “pat/hit/beat/bang/...them on the head” is more common than “pat/hit/beat/bang/...them on their heads”?

 

[Tarheel]

Two things. One, context is always helpful. Two, I've never looked up anything on COCA, and I'm not going to start now.

 

[5jj]

According to COCA, could I say that the pattern of “pat/hit/beat/bang/...them on the head” is more common than “pat/hit/beat/bang/...them on their heads”?

You could,

 

[5jj]

I've never looked up anything on COCA, and I'm not going to start now.

I have found both the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) and the British National Corpus (BNC) very useful over the years. Checking with them has stopped me giving incorrect information several times.

 

[Tarheel]

I talk to my usage consultant when I need help.