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Grammar and Linguistics > Countable and uncountable nouns
Countable and uncountable nouns
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KHAWLA ALZIOD
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Countable and uncountable nouns
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Hello everyone, I would be very grateful if you helped me in this topic . the word "people " is sometimes countable and other cases uncountable .Do you think that it differs from countable to uncountable in meaning ? Is it considered as plural or singular ?
Also the word fruit .Is it singular or plural ? I have checked everything from the dictionary ,but I would be happy to read your comments . please ,give me any hints to discuss. |
9 Dec 2012
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Katiapulko
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People - human beings in general. E.g. There were lots of people at the festival.
Peoples - nations, members of a particular community. e.g. The British and French were at first the leading peoples in this great proliferation of knowledge.
Have a look here: http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/people_1 and here: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/people
Regards, Kate
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9 Dec 2012
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ueslteacher
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People is used as plural when we mean "persons" E. g. There were a lot of people at the party.
Peoples is used when we mean representatives of different nationalities E. g. the native peoples of Siberia i.e. several nationalities that live there
Fruit when you mean it in general as opposed to, say, vegetables E. g. You should eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Fruits when you mean different kinds of fruit E. g. Tropical fruits like bananas and pineapples.
Same goes for fish BTW.
Sophia
P.S. Hi, Katia, we must have been posting at the same time.
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9 Dec 2012
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cunliffe
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Just an observation. �People � is always plural. It can be countable, �50 people think that � or uncountable when used in the general sense �people think that.. � |
9 Dec 2012
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almaz
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I �d imagine Khawla is also interested in subject-verb agreement. So, for people, you �d find - as in the above examples - that it is treated as an unmarked plural (the people are revolting, my lord) and yet can also take an indefinite article (the Koryaks, an indigenous people of the Russian Far East) although the verb agreement would again be plural (a people who inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea).Fruit, as the others have pointed out, is invariably singular ( fruit flies like a banana  ) - except when it �s marked as plural, of course. |
9 Dec 2012
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drissbkd
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I think the word "people" is coutable in case it is the plural form of " a person". but when it has the meaning of a nation, community, it is considered as uncountable or at least singular. for more grammar tips visit. bkdelt.com/grammar. good luck
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9 Dec 2012
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