Learn English – Plural or singular noun when it refers to two things in a list

grammatical-number

I wonder which of the two is correct:

  1. I have a red and a blue car.
  2. I have a red and a blue cars.

or

  1. Everyone has a left and a right arms.
  2. Everyone has a left and a right arm.

My (non-native) inclination would be for option 1, as it sounds better.
On the other hand, in the following examples, the plural sounds better to me.

  • Everyone has left and right arms.
  • I have old and new cars. (when I only have only one old car and one new car)
  • The left and the right arms are…

But are they correct?

Best Answer

"A" is singular: You can't use "cars" and "arms." "A red car and a blue car" and "a left arm and a right arm" indicate two cars and two arms. "Red and blue cars" and "left and right arms" have indeterminate numbers.