Bucketfulls or buckets full ???

[coriolis]

OK you English majors, which is correct:

Today I picked up three bucketfulls of dog poop from the back yard.
or
Today I picked up three buckets full of dog poop from the back yard.

Note that the object of the action is the offending matter, not the buckets themselves.

[Josephine96]

I actually think it's the bottom 1. Sounds like a stinky mess to me though lol

[CaluWxBill]

three full buckets

[CaluWxBill]

three full buckets

nah I am not sure, the first one probably is not right because I don't think bucketfull is a word, but if it is then they both should be right.

[Josephine96]

Like I said though.. stinky mess lol

[vbhoutex]

I actually think it's the bottom 1. Sounds like a stinky mess to me though lol

EXACTLY!!!!

[ColdFront77]

What ever the case, "bucketful" is a word.

bucketful: n. the quantity contained in a bucket [syn: bucket]


*Courtesy of Dictionary.com

[JQ Public]

hmmm i always thought it was buckets full. Since you are talking about 3 buckets...which are full of etc. So i would say buckets full. Since you state teh number of buckets then that it is full.

But since bucketful is a word then i guess thats right too.

[Pburgh]

How big were the buckets????
I think JQ is correct. buckets full
I think the admins and mods have picked up several buckets full of crap and they stayed right here. From what I could see a lot of it was thrown at them.

Ed, sounds like you're doing your Spring Cleaning too. We had a great day here in the Burgh. I only picked up one bucketful.

[coriolis]

LOL, you guys. 5 gallon buckets, mixed with ashes from the burner barrel.

And S2K has been undergoing some spring cleaning too!

[GalvestonDuck]

If you picked up three bucketfuls (one "L" not two), it means you had one bucket filled three times with dog poop.

If you picked up three buckets full, it means you had three separate buckets, filled once with dog poop.

So, both are correct ways to say it. But the usage depends upon how many buckets you needed.

[Miss Mary]

#2 sentence seems correct to me.

BTW, I pick up daily, 4 to 5 piles each time. No buckets needed around here.......don't want anyone stepping in it or the dog rolling around in it. But that's not the point, I know. LOL

Mary

[HurricaneGirl]

I've always wondered the same thing about spoonfulls or spoonsfull .

[Guest]

I'm going to go with the 2nd one you wrote Ed. I'm no english major, but I feel fairly confident.

[GalvestonDuck]

Courtesy of the US Government Printing Office:

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/stylemanual/20 ... txt-5.html

5.9. Nouns ending with ful form the plural by adding s at the
end; if it is necessary to express the idea that more than one
container was filled, the two elements of the solid compound
are printed as separate words and the plural is formed by
adding s to the noun.

five bucketfuls of the mixture (one bucket filled five
times)
five buckets full of earth (separate buckets)
three cupfuls of flour (one cup filled three times)
three cups full of coffee (separate cups)

[Lindaloo]

In the deep south some say bucketfulls. LOL!! But I believe it is buckets full.

Yes Ed, S2K is spring cleaning.

[weatherluvr]

I believe it's "buckets full". Just like if you have more than one brother-in-law, you would say "brothers-in-law", not brother-in-laws. A lot of people get that wrong.

[sunnyday]

Duck is correct. It is bucketsful (one l). The plural, indicated by adding an s, goes after the bucket to indicate that there is more than one bucket, not after the l. Similar questions arise for hyphenated words such as mother-in-law. To make that word plural, the s goes at the end of mother, mothers-in law.

[ColdFront77]

What ever the case, "bucketful" is a word.

bucketful: n. the quantity contained in a bucket [syn: bucket]


*Courtesy of Dictionary.com

If you picked up three bucketfuls (one "L" not two), it means you had one bucket filled three times with dog poop.

If you picked up three buckets full, it means you had three separate buckets, filled once with dog poop.

So, both are correct ways to say it. But the usage depends upon how many buckets you needed.

Duck is correct. It is bucketsful (one l). The plural, indicated by adding an s, goes after the bucket to indicate that there is more than one bucket, not after the l. Similar questions arise for hyphenated words such as mother-in-law. To make that word plural, the s goes at the end of mother, mothers-in law.

[Skywatch_NC]

Ed, sounds like your Pit Bulls really put it out!

Eric