Learn English – When should I write take any chance in plural form

grammatical-number

I came across a shop selling the fruit jam that my sister had been looking for. But the fruit jam came in apple and peach flavours, I was not very sure which one my sister liked better, so I decided to buy both.
Now, given that situation, I want to explain why I bought both apple-flavoured and peach-flavoured jams to my sister:
I bought two fruit jams in different flavours because the jams would be sold out. I could not [take any chances / take any chance] .

Thank you

Kitty

Best Answer

I bought two fruit jams in different flavours because the jams would be sold out. I couldn't take any chances.

Alternatively,

I bought two fruit jams in different flavours because the jams would be sold out. I couldn't take chances.

Even...

I bought two fruit jams in different flavours because the jams would be sold out. I didn't want to take the chance.

Possibly...

I bought two fruit jams in different flavours because the jams would be sold out. I didn't want to take a chance.

This last one doesn't sound quite right because the unfortunate event you're attempting to avoid is apparent: getting the wrong flavour and finding the right flavour sold out before you can get it. In the context, the indefinite article a doesn't appear to be appropriate. It's legal usage, but I don't think it works well here.

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