ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: Food / foods

Musicgold — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:20:28 GMT

Thanks a lot for the discussion folks.

Re: Food / foods

New2grammar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:49:33 GMT

Thanks, Goodman. I agree with you.

Re: Food / foods

Goodman — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:44:52 GMT

My English learning comrade, here is where itâs tricky and rules donât seem to follow the traditions.

Itâs all in the contexts. When you are talking, or even infer things or entity in plural, then use the plural form as âvariety of foods/ fruitsâ

Mango is my favorite fruitâsingular

Fruits of different colors contain different nutrients needed for a healthy diet

Re: Food / foods

New2grammar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:21:53 GMT

Thanks, Goodman for sharing. Actually, I know that fact. Probably, my question wasn't clear. I wanted to know when to use which. Any advice would be appreciated.

Re: Food / foods

Goodman — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:17:57 GMT

N2G,

Foods and fruits are completely ok with both singular and plural form.

Eat a Variety of Foods A well-balanced diet offers you many mouth-watering food choices. See how easy and fun it is to combine a wide variety of foods to create a well-balanced ...

www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=779 - 40k - ,,'clnk','2','')" href="http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:7cfhJojolqAJ:www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml%3Fidentifier%3D779+%22variety+of+foods+%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us">Cached - Similar pagesFood variety and a healthy diet - Better Health Channel. Food variety means eating a wide variety of foods from each of the five ... Choosing a variety of foods within and across food groups is also important. ...
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Re: Food / foods

New2grammar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:59:05 GMT

I agree. Thanks, Clive and CJ.

Re: Food / foods

CalifJim — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:56:51 GMT

New2grammar
would you say a list of foods

No. shopping list is the usual term, or grocery list; perhaps you could call it a "list of items to buy".

Re: Food / foods

Clive — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:55:31 GMT

Hi,
would you say a list of foods though? Not very often, that's for sure.

Is it the most natural expression when you go grocery shopping? Usually, you just say 'a shopping list'.
Clive

Re: Food / foods

New2grammar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:51:38 GMT

That's a great explanation!!!

Off topic: would you say a list of foods though? Is it the most natural expression when you go grocery shopping?

Re: Food / foods

CalifJim — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:43:57 GMT

New2grammar
Why foods?

Because "list of". I may be wrong but I don't think it's possible to have a list of X, where X is not countable.

a list of water? a list of sand? a list of appreciation? I don't think so!

Re: Food / foods

New2grammar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:39:24 GMT

Why foods? I remember foods and fruits are hardly ever used. Could you tell me the difference? I'm think I'm ready to attempt to understand them. :) maybe not. But no harm trying right?

Re: Food / foods

Clive — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:36:43 GMT

Hi,

I read the following sentences in a book. I don't understand why the first sentence use 'food' instead of 'foods' . The second sentence shows that food is a countable noun. 'Food' can be both countable and non-countable, and we often don't much care about making a distinction or speaking consistently.

Also as a side question, why there is no comma before 'and', in #1sentence, even though it is acting as a conjunction between two indpendent clauses.? Until I read posts here by some other students of English who mentioned this so-called 'rule', I had never heard of it. You'll read lots of sentences that do not use a comma before 'and'. I'd say that some factors that influence comma use are the length of the sentence and the complexity of its structure.

1. Go to a mall food court and make a list of food that is good for your health.

2. They try to avoid foods that are high in fat or sugar.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: Food / foods

CalifJim — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:29:20 GMT

Musicgold
Go to a mall food court and make a list of food that is good for your health.

I would have written:

Go to a mall food court, and make a list of foods that are good for your health.

The comma might have been omitted because the first clause is so short. There is little chance for confusion with such a short clause.

Food / foods

Musicgold — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:24:30 GMT

Hi,

I read the following sentences in a book. I don't understand why the first setence use 'food' instead of 'foods' . The second sentence shows that food is a countable noun.
Also as a side question, why there is no comma before 'and', in #1sentence, even though it is acting as a conjunction between two indpendent clauses.?

1. Go to a mall food court and make a list of food that is good for your health.

2. They try to avoid foods that are high in fat or sugar.

Thanks,

MG.