or two – English Grammar Profiler

We can search for the most common plural nouns that come after the phrase one or two in the NOW corpus with:

one or two _NN2

1 ONE OR TWO THINGS 2789

I‘ve got one or two things to say.

listen

2 ONE OR TWO PLAYERS 2676 3 ONE OR TWO PLACES 1561 4 ONE OR TWO GAMES 1337 5 ONE OR TWO OTHERS 979 6 ONE OR TWO CASES 849 7 ONE OR TWO GUYS 809 8 ONE OR TWO INDIVIDUALS 628 9 ONE OR TWO PERSONS 569 10 ONE OR TWO POINTS 555 11 ONE OR TWO DOSES 524 12 ONE OR TWO CHILDREN 499 13 ONE OR TWO GOALS 464 14 ONE OR TWO AREAS 459 15 ONE OR TWO EXCEPTIONS 449 16 ONE OR TWO TEAMS 416 17 ONE OR TWO MEMBERS 410 18 ONE OR TWO OCCASIONS 408 19 ONE OR TWO SHOTS 405 20 ONE OR TWO PIECES 403 21 ONE OR TWO STEPS 374 22 ONE OR TWO QUARTERS 332 23 ONE OR TWO CHANCES 330 24 ONE OR TWO ITEMS 326 25 ONE OR TWO ISSUES 324 26 ONE OR TWO SPELLS 310 27 ONE OR TWO COMPANIES 301 28 ONE OR TWO SONGS 301 29 ONE OR TWO SEATS 297 30 ONE OR TWO MOMENTS 294 31 ONE OR TWO CHANGES 285 32 ONE OR TWO DRINKS 284 33 ONE OR TWO MATCHES 277 34 ONE OR TWO SPOTS 276 35 ONE OR TWO LINES 272 36 ONE OR TWO GENERATIONS 265 37 ONE OR TWO COUNTRIES 256 38 ONE OR TWO DEGREES 253 39 ONE OR TWO WORDS 252 40 ONE OR TWO CLASSES 251 41 ONE OR TWO QUESTIONS 244 42 ONE OR TWO MISTAKES 243 43 ONE OR TWO KIDS 242 44 ONE OR TWO STUDENTS 240 45 ONE OR TWO INSTANCES 229 46 ONE OR TWO INCIDENTS 224 47 ONE OR TWO WOMEN 215 48 ONE OR TWO EPISODES 201 49 ONE OR TWO FRIENDS 191

50 ONE OR TWO PLAYS 191

The most common collocates of ‘one or two‘ in the COCA that are not plural nouns are ‘only and per‘.  Other words may follow ‘one or two’ that are not plural nouns also.  For example:

Thankfully, at this point, 

the mailman only delivers one or two a day.

Analog Science Fiction $26 Fact

Consumers may only do one or two of these transactions in their entire lifetime,

 so it’s hard to impress the urgency and potential for tragedy.

Baltimore Sun

And then limit yourself to one or two per week.

cathe.com

We can search for a singular noun + or two in the NOW corpus with:

a _NN or two

1 A DAY OR TWO 21182

Can I just stay here just for a day or two until I remember?

listen

2 A YEAR OR TWO 19261 3 A THING OR TWO 17911 4 A WEEK OR TWO 13251 5 A MONTH OR TWO 8222 6 A MINUTE OR TWO 4849 7 A DECADE OR TWO 2316 8 A GAME OR TWO 2259 9 A SECOND OR TWO 1795 10 A GENERATION OR TWO 1200 11 A DRINK OR TWO 1179 12 A STEP OR TWO 1177 13 A GLASS OR TWO 1151noun 14 A SEASON OR TWO 1144 15 A NIGHT OR TWO 1113 16 A MOMENT OR TWO 1100 17 A LESSON OR TWO 1069 18 A NOTCH OR TWO 969 19 A POINT OR TWO 920 20 A TIME OR TWO 918 21 A WORD OR TWO 882 22 A SHOWER OR TWO 820 23 A GOAL OR TWO 782 24 A DEGREE OR TWO 781 25 A PLAYER OR TWO 724 26 A TEAR OR TWO 677 27 A PEG OR TWO 649 28 A LINE OR TWO 638 29 A SURPRISE OR TWO 604 30 A TRICK OR TWO 600 31 A SONG OR TWO 591 32 A BEER OR TWO 579 33 A MILE OR TWO 558 34 A BOTTLE OR TWO 515 35 A FOOT OR TWO 514 36 A DOLLAR OR TWO 495 37 A FRIEND OR TWO 476 38 A SENTENCE OR TWO 472 39 A QUARTER OR TWO 466 40 A HALF OR TWO 435 41 A DROP OR TWO 424 42 A WIN OR TWO 390 43 A BLOCK OR TWO 377 44 A PINT OR TWO 373 45 A QUESTION OR TWO 353 46 A PAGE OR TWO 347 47 A JOKE OR TWO 345 48 A STORY OR TWO 345 49 A BUCK OR TWO 337

50 A SHOT OR TWO 335

an …

1 AN HOUR OR TWO 7557

If you can determine the type of stroke within an hour or two, 

you can give medication to massively reduce the damage to the brain.

TED

2 AN INCH OR TWO 1599 3  AN EPISODE OR TWO 505 4  AN EYEBROW OR TWO 220

5  AN INJURY OR TWO 187