Association

[Xinfu]

My sentence:

-Cynthia had close association ___ those companies.

1. Could I use the singular for association?

2. Could I use to before those?

[wrholt]

1. If "those companies" is perceived as a single entity rather than a group of individual entities, then "Cynthia had a close association ___ those companies" may be okay. But to my ear Cynthia has a separate association with each company, and only "Cynthia had close associations ___ those companies" sounds correct.

2. I prefer "with" before "those".

[Xinfu]

Excellent answer. Thank you.