Full Idea
If all properties are distributive, plural reference is just a handy abbreviation to avoid repetition (as in 'A and B are hungry', to avoid 'A is hungry and B is hungry'), but not all properties are distributive (as in 'some people surround a table').
Clarification
See Idea 10634 for 'distributive'
Gist of Idea
Plural reference is just an abbreviation when properties are distributive, but not otherwise
Source
Keith Hossack (Plurals and Complexes [2000], 2)
Book Reference
-: 'British Soc for the Philosophy of Science' [-], p.415
A Reaction
The characteristic examples to support plural quantification involve collective activity and relations, which might be weeded out of our basic ontology, thus leaving singular quantification as sufficient.
Related Idea
Idea 10634 Predicates are 'distributive' or 'non-distributive'; do individuals do what the group does? [Linnebo]