UNIT

2.12
Singular or
Plural?

The choice of singular or plural can be confusing in various situations, such as in

the use of countable and uncountable nouns. This unit illustrates the main areas of
difficulty and provides practice with these.

1 Five areas of difficulty

The main problem areas for international students are shown below.

(a) Nouns should agree with verbs, and pronouns with nouns:
Those problems are unique
There are many arguments in favour
(b) Uncountable nouns and irregular plurals usually have no final ‘s’:
Most students receive free tuition
The main export is tropical fruit
(c) General statements normally use the plural:
State universities have lower fees
(d) ‘Each’/‘every’ are followed by singular noun and verb forms:
Every student gets financial support
(e) Two linked nouns should agree:
Both the similarities and differences are important
 2.12: Singular or Plural? 135

䊏 Find the mistake in each of the following sentences and decide what type (a–e on
p. 134) it is.

(a) The proposal has both advantages and disadvantage.

(b) A majority of children in Thailand is vaccinated against measles.
(c) There are few young people in rural area.
(d) Many places are experiencing an increase in crimes.
(e) Each companies have their own policies.

2 Group phrases

singular + plural plural + singular plural + uncountable

half the universities two types of institution three areas of enquiry
a range of businesses various kinds of course several fields of research
one of the elements many varieties of response different rates of progress

䊏 Study the following ‘group’ phrases.

Note that if a verb has more than one subject it must be plural, even if the preceding noun
is singular:
Scores of students, some teachers and the president are at the meeting
Their valuable suggestions and hard work were vital
Certain ‘group’ nouns (e.g. team/army/government) can be followed by either a singular or
plural verb:
The team was defeated three times last month (collectively)
The team were travelling by train and bus (separately)

3 Uncountable nouns

(a) Most nouns in English are countable, but the following are generally uncountable (i.e.
they are not usually used with numbers or the plural ‘s’).
accommodation data information
advice education knowledge
behaviour equipment money
commerce furniture news
136 Part 2: Elements of Writing

permission scenery trouble

progress staff vocabulary
research traffic weather
rubbish travel work
Many of these can be ‘counted’ by using an extra noun:
A piece of advice
Three patterns of behaviour
An item of equipment
Six members of staff

(b) Another group of uncountable nouns is used for materials:

wood/rubber/iron/coffee/paper/water/oil/stone

Little wood is used in the construction of motor vehicles.

Huge amounts of paper are needed to produce these magazines.
Many of these nouns can be used as countable nouns with a rather different meaning:
Over twenty daily papers are published in Delhi.
Most woods are home to a wide variety of birds.

(c) The most difficult group can be used either as countable or uncountable nouns, often
with quite different meanings (further examples: business/capital/experience):
She developed an interest in genetics. (countable)
The bank is paying 4 per cent interest. (uncountable)
Other nouns with a similar pattern are used for general concepts (e.g. love/fear/hope):
Most people feel that life is too short. (uncountable – in general)
Nearly twenty lives were lost in the mining accident. (countable – in particular)

4 Practice A

䊏 Choose the correct alternative in these sentences.

(a) Little/few news about the accident was released.

(b) He established three successful businesses/business in 2011.
(c) Substantial experiences/experience of report writing are/is required.
 2.12: Singular or Plural? 137

(d) It is often claimed that travel broadens/travels broaden the mind.

(e) Paper was/papers were very expensive in the twelfth century.
(f) How much advice/many advices were they given before coming to Australia?
(g) She had little interest/few interests outside her work.
(h) The insurance policy excludes the effects of civil war/wars.
(i) Irons were/iron was first powered by electricity in the twentieth century.
(j) They studied the work/works of three groups of employees over two years.

5 Practice B

䊏 Read the text and choose the correct alternative.

A high percentage of company/companies has/have developed website/websites in

the last few years. Trading using the Internet is called e-commerce/e-commerces,
and this/these is/are divided into two main kinds: B2B and B2C. The former
involves trading between business/businesses, but many company/companies want
to use the Internet to sell directly to its/their customers (B2C). However, large
numbers have experienced trouble/troubles with security/securities and other
practical issues. In addition, the high start-up costs and the expense/expenses of
advertising means/mean that this/these company/companies often struggle to
make a profit.