# EN: head (cattle)



## Staarkali

Hello all,

I'm wondering about the grammar of *head* when counting
A: How big is his cattle?
B: This farmer has 20 head

with no *"s"* at *head*, is that correct?

thanks in advance for any help!


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## tannen2004

For some reason this is only true of cattle as far as I know.  But yes "he had 20 head" is correct.  I, however, have 2 heads of lettuce in my refrigerator.


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## Staarkali

oh ok, that's even more a particular case than I thought. Thanks for the tip


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## jann

I confirm that the unit for counting livestock (as in "head of cattle" is invariable), and that it is written without an S.  

This is a strange word; it is always plural.  You wouldn't say "he has one head of cattle"   You would just say that he has one cow/steer/bull, etc. 

PS. How big is his cattle?  --> How big is his herd (of cattle)?  How many cattle does he have?


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## itka

Difficult to understand !
Would you say :_"This farmer has 20 head"_ or are you bound to completement _"This farmer has 20 head of cattle"_?

What would you understand if you're hearing : _"I've two head"_? I mean, would you immediately know it's about cattle ? (since if it's about salad, you'd say : "I've two heads (of lettuce)").


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## jann

No, you need context for a strange unit like "head".

If you've been discussing ranching and the size of different farmers' herds, then the context would be clear and you might say "Farmer X has 20 head."  But if it is not already very clear from context, you will need to say "...20 head of cattle."

If you're talking about salad, I can imagine someone asking, "How much lettuce do you need?" and the answer could be "Two heads."  But you can't just say "I have two heads" without telling us that the context is salad; otherwise, we'll think you have gone crazy, because human beings obviously only have one skull!     By the way, lettuce is not the only vegetable to come in "heads"... there is also cabbage (whose head, like lettuce, is made of leaves), broccoli & cauliflower (whose heads are made up of florets), garlic (whose head is made up of cloves), etc.  So again, the context must be clear.

PS.  I don't think there is a rule about this, but it is common usage, at least in American English: we don't really use the contraction when "to have" is the primary verb....  only when "to have" acts as an auxiliary.. and even then, the contraction is not mandatory.  
--> I have two heads of lettuce
--> I've purchased two heads of lettuce. / I have purchased...


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## itka

Thanks a lot, Jann! Very interesting!


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## Dzienne

Wow, I just learned something new about English and I speak the stuff.  Amazing, thanks...


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## Staarkali

yeah, really interesting; thanks all for the participation and help!
I didn't think it was hard when I came across that rule, and yet...


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## kmdawes

How would this translate into French? 
"Il a un troupeau de 60 têtes?" 

Thanks!


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## Staarkali

well, I assume this is your best shot, and it seems all fine; although in my understanding, we don't use *tête* very often (to avoid the repetition after a first statement or when listing cattles by size); to my understanding...


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## itka

I think we usually say : _"Il a un troupeau de soixante* b*êtes"._


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## kmdawes

merci à tous!


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## Maître Capello

itka said:


> I think we usually say : _"Il a un troupeau de soixante* b*êtes"._


Yes, either that or _Il a soixante *t*êtes de bétail._


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