Search results for 'tag:Plurals tag:Countable nouns' matching tags 'Plurals' and 'Countable nouns'

corresponds

Evo25 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:18:50 GMT

(1)the money i've saved corresponds/correspond to the amount i need for my course.
which one is corrrect?
money is appear as uncountable noun.money here can be considered as plural or singular?or neither one?

Re: Some problems with plural noun?

Mr Wordy — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:13:30 GMT

The plural of "vocabulary" is "vocabularies". This word follows the normal rules for forming plurals.

The other two that you mention are not "irregular plural nouns". They are called "uncountable nouns", and they do not have a plural form. If you search Google for "countable and uncountable nouns" then you will find lots of information. See, for example, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslcount2.html

Re: Use of a plural

CalifJim — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:27:08 GMT

Anonymous
a plural version of a noun that could be either countable or uncountable.

There's no such thing as an uncountable noun in the plural. Plurality is one of the marks of countability. Once the noun is in the plural you know you are dealing with a countable noun.

Anonymous
that a person desires to use it is a good enough reason to use it or them?

Not just desire. Very accomplished writers with a fine ear for the language are able to gauge when it is useful to present an apparent uncountable in the plural -- especially when it's a matter of abstract nouns. The majority of us merely competent writers don't typically invent such novel turns of phrase.

Re: sport

Yoong Liat — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:25:58 GMT

Hi LiJ

This topic has been discussed before and I hope you will find the following helpful.

In British English 'sport' is the general term and is an uncountable noun.

For example: (1) He is not interested in sport. (2) There is too much sport on television. (3) She excels at sport.

If it refers to particular types of sport, the term 'sport/s' (a countable noun) is used.

For example: (1) Bobby's sport is tennis. (2) My favourite sports are tennis and hockey.

In American English, 'sports' is a plural noun.

For example: He likes watching sports on television.

quoted content as noun - long question

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 05:20:11 GMT

Hi,
Please take a look at this.

... involved with modern, western "come every two hours and sit in the room."

I am pretty sure you can treat "come every two hours and sit in the room" like an uncountable noun.

Can I make it a countable noun like this?
Everyday, a "come every two hours and sit in the toom" of this 'no-worry', carefree dude is making a lot of people feel uneasy. -- countable by an instance?
A highly idiosyncratic "come every two hours and sit in the room" of this carefree dude is taking a heavey toll on my freetime. -- countable by a type?
If the above sentence doesn't look correct, can you give me a correct one where a quoted content is countable?

Can I make it plural?
This 'no-worry', carefree dude's 'come-every-two-hours-and-sit-in-the-room's' are making a lot of people feel uneasy.
If the above sentence doesn't look correct, can you give me a correct one where a quoted content is countable? Normally, I think either a hyphen or quotation marks are needed but to make it plural, can I use both?

If I added the word 'hours', is there any consideration to be given as to whether to put that word outside the quote or inside?

These 'come every two hours and sit in the room hours' are taking a toll on my freetime.

These 'come every two hours and sit in the room' hours are taking a toll on my freetime.

Re: indefinite article before a gerund

Cool Breeze — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:49:43 GMT

I am not sure if the following answers your question but I'll say it anyway. Some grammarians don't distinguish between verbal nouns (= complete nouns formed from verbs with the ing ending) and gerunds (= words that are neither verbs nor nouns but resemble both to some extent). Some apply the term "gerund" to both of them. Perhaps your confusion arises from that?

A verbal noun really is a noun in that it can assume all the characteristics any countable noun has. This means that it can have an article, an adjectival attribute (or more than just one) and it can occur in the plural:

The correct speaking of English is easy.

His old writings don't interest me.

Perhaps some of the "gerunds" that bother you or arouse your interest belong to this category? Mixing in your post certainly does.

Some verbal nouns have become part and parcel of the language and are included in dictionaries, like "beginning" for example. In some cases you have a choice: a happy end/ending.

Gerunds can't be preceded by an article or an adjectival attribute because they are not full-fledged nouns. They bear some resemblance to verbs: they can take an object:

Speaking English correctly is easy.

Re: no / any + singular count noun

N5pn4cya — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:51:38 GMT

Hi Mr. Micawber... I thought that "any" takes the plural form of countable nouns (from reading other posts).

So should it say: Have you noticed any alterations in the patient's behaviour?

Re: creams and detergents

Goodman — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:19:09 GMT

Mr. Miclawer,

I wasnât going to expand this pluralization discussion on âcreamsâ and âwinesâ.
But it really bothered the heck out of me for two reasons.
1) I really wanted to find out if I was really blowing hot air on this subject
because of my misunderstanding of this topic, and 2) if there is another side of the usage
I am not aware of.
This is perhaps not relevant to the discussion but to establish my point, I think it needs
to be said. Mrs. Milton whom I learned English from was an excellent English teacher who
also had taught for 5 years at the Beijing University, which is a top University in China, by
invitation of the Government. Many of her students had landed positions working for the
Chinese Government and the U.N. as translators and interpreters. I was very blessed to be
among her students. Most of my English foundation was learned from her. And I was really
surprised to see your examples pluralizing âcreamâ and âwineâ. By your earlier examples, which I
compared with the information found on the WEB, I must ask this question. Am I to understand
that itâs completely grammatical to say in a restaurant âmay I have 2 waters and soups?â. I know
we hear that all the time but if we are discussing the whether a particular usage is grammatically
correct, running into this type of scenario is inevitable. Here are some âsupportsâ you had
asked for which may not may not be validated to your satisfaction. No doubt, you are the
English authority and perhaps possess âsuperiorityâ over many frequented this forum and I donât
mean to sound like challenging your examples, let alone to waste anymore of your time.
Nonetheless, as a serious learner, Iâd owe the real answers to myself and the learners if I just
accepted your answers as given. I may be wrong with my search result and you are correct.
And If so, here is my âadvanced apologyâ.

Nouns only countable nouns can be either singular or plural. ... He had some ice cream on
his face. He had an ice cream. mass. countable ...
www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/tta/wc/nouns.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar pages

http://ajaja.paradoxinc.org/Basic/Grammar/CountAndNoncount.ht

Liquids: beer, milk, coffee, blood, cream, juice, honey, gasoline, oil, shampoo, soup, tea, water, wine.

Solids and semi-solids: Bread, butter, cheese, ice, ice cream, lettuce, toast, meat, beef, chicken, fish, ham, lamb, pork, chalk, 
copper, cotton, glass, gold, iron, , soap, tin, toothpaste, wood, wool,

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/countnon.html

A Revision of the RulesThe exceptions require that the rule for pluralizing be revised: count nouns and nouns used 
in a count sense can be pluralized; noncount nouns and nouns used in a noncount sense cannot.

	Pluralizes with -s	Does not Pluralize
Count Noun	X
Count Use	X
Noncount Noun		X
Noncount Use		X

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080425090142AAom2ui

Answers (4)

If coffee is an uncountable noun, cream certainly is by common sense. Thus the rule applies.

Â· Answerer 1

Many nouns can be used as countables or uncountables. It depends on whether you are thinking of a substance or
a single serving or object made of the substance. So:

Beer is fattening (uncountable - the substance)
Don't drink more than three beers a day. (Countable - servings)

I love chocolate (uncountable - the substance)
Get me a box of chocolates (countable - individual pieces)

A vase made of blown glass (uncountable - the substance)
A glass of wine (A single piece / artifact)

Coffee gives me indigestion (the substance - uncountable)
I need at least three coffees to wake up on a morning (countable - individual servings)

2 months ago

http://www3.law.cuny.edu/wc/students/multilingual/articles.html

Uncountable nouns often refer to drinks and food, other general substances, or concepts (meat, tea, steel, information, justice):

Examples of Uncountable Nouns in English:

Food and Drink: bacon, beef, beer, bread, butter, cabbage, candy, cauliflower, chicken, chocolate, coffee, corn,
cream, fish, fruit, juice, lettuce, meat, milk, oil, pasta, rice, salt, spinach, sugar, tea, water, whiskey, wine, yogurt.
General Substances: air,cement, clay, coal, copper, dirt, dust, foam, gasoline, gold, ice, leather, paper, petroleum,
plastic, rain, rubber, silver, soap, steel, wood, wool.
Abstract nouns: abandonment, access, adultery, advice, alimony, anger, anguish, arson, authentication, beauty, capacity,
conduct, confidence, courage, deprivation, desperation, discretion, employment, empowerment, evidence, extortion, fortune,
fun, happiness, health, honesty, housing, information, insurance, intelligence, intent, knowledge, land, love, malice, negligence,
poverty, privacy, real estate, sadness, satisfaction, strength, truth, wealth.
Others: biology, clothing, darkness, equipment, furniture, gossip, homework, jewelry, luggage, machinery, mail, money, music,
news, poetry, pollution, research, scenery, traffic, transportation, violence, weather, weight, work.

Some uncountable nouns (except for concepts) can be turned into countable nouns by preposing a phrase to them
(two bottles of wine, a bar of soap, a piece of information, an act of violence, a burst of anger, a piece of evidence).

e.g. The defendant's lawyer is sure the judge will accept new evidence in this case.

vs. The defendant's lawyer is sure the judge will accept three new pieces of evidence in this case.

Some uncountable nouns can be used in the plural, but their meaning changes:

experience / experiences: e.g., He had to rely on experience / I lived unforgettable experiences

Re: plural or singular

Mr Wordy — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:52:10 GMT

The price?? (prices??) of ~~the~~ domestic cars went up dramatically. ["the" is not always wrong here, but in most contexts it's not required.]

When talking about general market conditions, the price of cars is acceptable in my view. It's as if "cars" is treated as an uncountable noun (cf. the price of sugar) and it's imagined that there's a generic concept of "price" that somehow applies collectively to all cars. Similarly for other plural nouns: the price of bananas; the price of shoes etc.

In cases when it's clear that you must be referring to individual cars with individual prices, "prices" would be used. For example: I looked at the cars on that dealer's forecourt, but his prices are too high.

Re: On "data" pronunciation

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:09:30 GMT

That psychology professor at UC Berkeley is misinformed on the subject.

Datum is the singular form.

Data is the plural form of datum.

Check Webster, Oxford, etc.

A similar example would be "Media" and "Medium"; Medium is the singular form of Media.

Data can be used as a singular non-countable noun nowadays, but the latin origin of "Data" is "Datum".

Nobody uses "Datas", or worse, "Datae".

Now, on the pronunciation...

Before even thinking about how to pronounce "Data", think about how you would pronounce "Datum".

If you start the first syllable of Media and Medium the same way, wouldn't you do the same for first syllable of Data and Datum?

Here's a little rote to help: "Orlando Bloom is cute, but I would never 'Datum'."