of annoyance in his voice.
Let me give you a
piece
of advice.
Several
items
of jewellery were stolen.
Other examples of everyday partitive expressions are:
I'd like a
loaf
of bread, two
bar
s of chocolate and a
tube
of toothpaste, please.
Can I have another
slice
of cake?
Mateusz drank a
glass
of beer.
Nouns with a singular form and a singular or plural meaning (collective nouns)
Collective nouns, such as family and audience, have a singular form but can be followed by a singular or a plural verb, depending on whether we treat the group as a unit (singular) or as a number of individuals (plural):
My
family
is big.
His
family
were against his plans.
The
audience
was captivated by the performance.
This channel's target
audience
are young adults.
Other examples of collective nouns are:
board
committee
community
crew
crowd
government
group
jury
staff
team
Some collective nouns are often used with other countable nouns:
A team of researchers
is working on this project.
A group of people
were standing in front of the building.
A number of collective nouns are used with certain kinds of animals:
a colony of ants
a flock of sheep
a herd of cattle
a pack of wolves
a swarm of bees
Nouns which are always plural
Certain nouns only have plural forms:
These
scissors
are for cutting paper.
Your
clothes
are dirty.
Have you seen my
glasses
? I want to read the newspaper.
What kind of
goods
does your company produce?
The table of
contents
should not contain any pictures.
I ran up the
stairs
and tore the door open.
The police used
firearms
to disperse the crowd.
I live on the
outskirts
of the city.
Some of these nouns are often used with the expression a pair of, as they refer to things made up of two parts:
a pair of trousers
a pair of jeans
a pair of shoes
a pair of slippers
a pair of glasses
a pair of gloves
a pair of earrings
The nouns people (meaning more than one person) and police are always pluraclass="underline"
People
say that the
police
are investigating the case.
People can refer to a nation, religion or race, in which case it is considered as a singular noun and can be used in a singular or plural form:
They are
a welcoming and hospitable people
.
At college, he took a course on the history of the
peoples
of the British Isles.
Quotes:
Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses. - Alphonse Karr
People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them. - Epictetus
A city is a large community where people are lonesome together. - Herbert Prochnow
Nouns with a plural form and a singular meaning
Certain nouns have a plural form (ending in -s) but a singular meaning: news; shingles, mumps, rickets; dominoes, billiards, darts etc.:
What's the
news
?
Shingles
is caused by the same virus as chicken pox.
Billiards
is a game which connects mathematics and football.
Nouns ending in -ics can either take a singular (if they are considered as the name of a science) or a plural verb (if they express a specific application of the science):
Mathematics
was never easy for Tom.
The teacher told him that his
mathematics
were well below the standard.
(his understanding of mathematics or his results)
Rhetorics
was one of the seven free arts.
His
rhetorics
were doing more harm to our case than any mistake we had ever made.
(his way of expressing ideas)
Acoustics
is the study of sounds.