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Kooyeen

#506666 Mon, 28 Apr 08 06:18 PM

I think it's singular because it's uncountable, like the other words ending in -ware: dishware, silverware, etc. You don't say "a software", for the same reason you don't say "a stuff". A piece of software has always a name, and that's what is used instead. The most generic one is usually "application", or "program".

Kooyeen

Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005

Italy

Senior Member (3,706)

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Pter

#506861 Tue, 29 Apr 08 04:09 AM

Thanks Kooyeen. I know it is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG to use "software" as a countable noun. We can certainly find a lot of reasons why "software" should be uncountable. However, I just hate I have to say "a piece of software" or a "software package" every time when I talk about software. You don't say "a piece of stuff", "a stuff package" or anything similar. "A piece of silverware" is also rare if the number of hits from Google can be considered a useful reference.

Software is uncountable, but "software updates" are countable. It's insane. A software update is part of the original and contains fewer lines of code than the complete program. A part of an uncountable noun is countable!

I just wish that someone invent a word that is countable and means "a piece of software" or change the usage of software to "[ C ] and [ U ]"!

Another thing I'd wish to do, if I had any authority over the English language, is to abolish once and for all the whole notion of having countable and uncountable nouns!

EDIT:

I believe most words ending with -ware are most often used collectively. It is rather rare to refer to a single piece of whatever-ware. Software is an exception and I have already mentioned in my previous post that the usage of the word "software" has changed (or expanded) since its inception. It was originally a vague concept and using it as as an uncountable noun WAS certainly reasonable. However, in current usage, "software" is most often used to refer to concrete items, the individual software packages. Yet, "software packages" seems to either suggest a collection of multiple software items (e.g. Microsoft Office suite) or there is some sort of "packaging".

Pter

Joined on Wed, Nov 28 2007

Hong Kong

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Countable nouns, Dates, Nouns, Numbers, Uncountable nouns

Grammar Geek

#507070 Tue, 29 Apr 08 01:38 PM

Actually, Kooyeen made a great point. You don't put "this silverware" on the table while holding a fork, you put "that piece of silverware." I hadn't thought of that before.

Grammar Geek

Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006

Pennsylvania, USA

Veteran Member (14,781)

Barbara, who answers in American English.

Kooyeen

#507306 Tue, 29 Apr 08 09:46 PM

Pter
However, I just hate I have to say "a piece of software" or a "software package" every time when I talk about software.

That's what I meant, you don't have to! You won't hear that often, you'll hear other terms, the most common of which is probably "application". When you install an application... Check all the applications... A browser is an application. Install a firewall... another application. And so on. You never need "piece of software". Smile

Kooyeen

Pter

#507387 Wed, 30 Apr 08 03:26 AM

Hi Kooyeen,

I see what you mean. "Application", I suppose, comes from "application software". Although many people understand "application" as a piece of software, many non-technical savvy people may misunderstand it as something else if the context does not make it clear. To avoid the confusion, we can use "application software" but then we come better to the same situation: "an application software" is incorrect. We have to say "a piece of application software", "an application software package" or "an application software product", etc. This is what I found from a Longman website:

Give an example of an application software and an example of a system software. (2 marks)

This is grammatically wrong. But you see, it is not just me who think of "software" as "a piece of software". The next one is from about.com:

The Skype service comes with an application software, which is why many people think of Skype as being only a software, overlooking the great service behind.

There are many situtations that we need to tell people something is a software product. I got 76,000 hits from Google on "a software for", 42,600 hits for "a software from". Yes, these people are all wrong until one day a prominent writer use "a software" and a dictionary include this as an acceptable usage.

Back to your silverware example. I think you would call that a plate, a fork or a knife instead of "a piece of silverware" unless you don't recognise what that piece of silverware is. But this is not the case for "software".

Pter

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