- abbreviations
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Articles
- British/US English
- bullet points
- Clear and concise writing
- Commas
- Compound nouns
- Conditionals
- Conjunctions
- Countable and uncountable nouns
- Gerunds
- Idioms
- Modal verbs
- Negation
- Noun groups
- noun phrases
- Nouns
- Numbers
- Participle clauses
- Passive voice
- Phrasal verbs
- polite expressions
- Possession
- Prepositions
- Punctuation
- Quantifiers
- Relative clauses
- Singular or plural
- Time expressions
- Useful everyday phrases
- verb phrases
- Verbs
- Verb tenses
- Weights and measures
- Word order
- writing lists
-
Recent Posts
Links
Tag Archives: Singular or plural
How to use the phrase “a number of…”
WRONG There is a number of possible solutions that we can discuss. RIGHT There are a number of possible solutions that we can discuss. WRONG A number of protesters was seen outside the premises. RIGHT A number of protesters were … Continue reading
The difference between countable and uncountable nouns (unit and mass nouns)
Distinguishing between countable nouns (unit nouns) and uncountable nouns (mass nouns) can be very difficult. This area is the source of many mistakes. Unit nouns have two forms, singular and plural: e.g. a chair, chairs. You can say 1 chair, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Articles, Countable and uncountable nouns, Nouns, Quantifiers, Singular or plural
Leave a comment
The “family is” or the “family are”?
Collective nouns are words that describe groups of people or things, e.g. “family” or “team”. Grammatically they are singular, but as they describe more than one individual, they may also take the plural form of a verb or use a … Continue reading
How to use “all”, “whole” and “entire”
The words “all”, “whole” and “entire” are quantifiers. This means they indicate aspects of quantity. Their usage depends on the type of noun they describe, i.e. singular or plural, countable or uncountable. ALL “All (of the)” can generally be used … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Countable and uncountable nouns, Nouns, Quantifiers, Singular or plural
2 Comments
Is “data” singular or plural?
The answer is – both. The word “data” is a Latin word. It is the plural of “datum”. “Data” means facts or information; “datum” means one fact or a single item of information. “Data” and “datum” are usually used to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Countable and uncountable nouns, Nouns, Quantifiers, Singular or plural
Leave a comment
How to pluralise terms made up of more than one word
As you know, in English you generally make a word plural by adding an ‘s’ at the end. There seems to be some confusion, though, about how to make plurals of terms made up of more than one word. For … Continue reading
One of… / each of… / any of… plus plural
If you use the phrases “one of… / each of… / any of…” they must be followed by the plural. Think about it – it’s logical. You’re always referring to one of / each of / any of many. WRONG … Continue reading
Common Mistakes in Business English 