Uncountable and collective nouns
Uncountable nouns
Any language has nouns identifying materials
and abstract concepts that cannot be counted. Uncountable nouns have only one
form: either singular, or plural.
Example:
sugar; bread; love; information; advice; knowledge; progress; money.
Pay special attention to singular nouns that are constructed as plurals: news, politics, physics, phonetics, etc. They must always be used with the singular form of a verb: The news was exciting. Physics doesn't interest me.
goods; clothes; riches; contents; savings; bowels; whereabouts; surroundings.
To refer to a portion or to many instances of objects designated by uncountable nouns lexical means are used.
Example:
They sell many brands of sugar but few other goods.
We gathered a great deal of information. She gave me a good piece of advice. He
donated a portion of his savings.
Collective nouns
Collective nouns designate groups of animate
objects: family, audience, crew, team, group, army, party, crowd, staff, board,
herd, flock. In English, a collective noun can be used, without changing its
singular form, to refer either to the group as a whole or to individuals
comprising the group. As a sentence subject, such a noun agrees with the
singular or plural form of a verb, depending on usage.
Example:
The team has performed excellent.> The team were
talking to reporters. My family is large.> My family are having dinner.
Exceptions:
The nouns police, people, and cattle are
always used with a verb in plural.
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