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How to know whether einige should be followed by the plural or by the singular?

The examples below seem to suggest that both options are possible. 

Exemple 1. "Als er sich für einige Zeit bei mir aufhielt."      <- sing

Exemple 2. "Vor einiger Zeit schon."                            <- sing

Exemple 3. "Wir müssen einige Änderungen vornehmen              <- plur

Exemple 4. "... einige Beispiele zur Nutzung des Wortes ...     <- plur

Is Zeit an exception, or an example of a class of words that remains singular after einige?

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    Actually there is no difference to English here. "Für einige Zeit" = "For some time", "For some times" doesn't make much sense in English either. See this question on SE English: ell.stackexchange.com/questions/43648/…
    – RHa
    Commented Sep 1, 2017 at 20:37

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If einige is used in the sense of English several then it takes the plural: einige Änderungen, einige Beispiele.

If it's used in the sense of English some it takes the singular: einige Zeit, einige Hoffnung.

An exception is einige Mal as a colloquial form of einige Male

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