posavasos - singular?

Question

Is this a singular noun in construction?

The coaster is on the desk.
El posavasos está encima del escritorio.

Is that right? What if you have two coasters?

Los dos posavasos-es están allá''?

P.S. My paper dictionary says a coaster is salvamanteles, but this dictionary says posavasos.

Answer 1

samdie said:

Natasha said:

samdie said:

:

Off hand, I can think of no instance where floor/ground can be used interchangeably.

Well, in general, the floor is inside and the ground is outside -- but not always.

Keep that chair on the ground!! Keep that chair on the floor!!

OK, "floor" is better, but people do say both.

And of course, we have the ground floor marked in elevators (ha ha)

I't not that I've never heard someone say something like that but never fails to surprise me (except in the case of non-native speakers). "Keep that chair on the ground!!" for me conjures up an image of an outdoor wedding/graduation ceremony, etc I can't decide how I would feel about a scene occurring in a cabin with a dirt floor (though, I suspect that the very fact that we say "dirt floor would incline me towards "on the floor"). .

My dictionary (the good old hard-bound paper kind, which I now find to be a traitor) agrees with you.

Answer 2

My dictionary (the good old hard-bound paper kind, which I now find to be a traitor) agrees with you.

If it's any consolation, Natasha, I agree with you. Although samdie is correct (and I myself follow his rule in this case), people do indeed use ground when indoors, and I don't think I would go so far as to call it an error. Maybe just imprecise usage.