Singularity & Plurality of English Nouns

Have you ever wondered why scissors always ends with an 's'? My teacher used to tell me everything that has a pair in it is always plural. For instance, glasses, jeans, pants, etc. However, that is not always the case. I made some reading and found a clear understanding of the singularity and plurality of some nouns. 

1. Cutting/Clipping Utensils

First, take a look at these items:

Scissors

Pliers

 Forceps 

Tongs 

Tweezers

As you can see, all of these items have double sides thus we classify them as being always plural. Therefore, we cannot say 'a scissor' or 'there is a scissor'; it is always 'a pair of scissors' or 'there are scissors'. So if you wish to say more than one scissors, you still say 'there are many scissors'. 

However, there are also tools that have two joined parts yet they are not always plural. 

Bear Trap

Flat Iron

2. Eyewear

We do not say I'm wearing a glass but we say we wear glasses. Eyewears such as glasses, contact lenses, sunglasses, shades, goggles or even binoculars are ALL plural. 

Rationally, we can relate this to the fact that these eyewears are made of two connected parts, resulting in the plurality. 

3. Clothes

My curiosity of why we never use 'clothe' has always been unanswered. But I know clothes may refer to shirts, pants, jackets etc. so it should always be plural. However, certain types of clothings are strictly plural, even though it refers to a single unit. For instance:

 Pants

 Shorts 

 Jeans

Bell Bottoms

So all these clothings we wear with separate enclosures for our legs come in plural form. Other examples include leggings, tights, trousers, and skinnies. Even pyjamas (or pajamas in US English) is plural because it's a combination of a top and bottom.  

4. Underwear

*sorry, no photos for this :P

As I've mentioned, clothes refer to a wide range of clothings. Underwear however, is singular. Yet, distinctively, those that come under underwear are mostly plural. For example, panties, boxers, drawers and briefs. Same concept here - the separate enclosures for our legs. 

BUT why are thong/t-back singular? So is the bra (which has strong resemblance to goggles or glasses, no?)!

So yeah, English, as I've said, is funny and weird sometimes. But it's fun! Happy learning :)

Disclaimer: I do not label myself as an English expert but sharing also means learning. Nobody has perfect English but I believe learning knows no boundary. Feel free to correct me by commenting on my blog or Facebook posts/profile. I also welcome suggestions, ideas and any English-related info. 

15 Commonly Misspelled Words among Malaysian Students

One of the major issues that Malaysian students find it difficult to master is spelling. I have to confess I had a hard time remembering spellings of English words as some are so complex and confusing but it all boils down to hard work in remembering them. 

Here's a list of 15 common misspellings done by most of my students. 

1. Definitely 

NOT definately

I wonder why so many people, even those with good English could spell 'definitely' as 'definately'. There is no A in 'definitely'. 

2. Accidentally

NOT accidently

This word is commonly misspelled as 'accidently' but accident is one of the few words which cannot be merged directly with -ly. 

Similar:
Incidentally NOT incidently

3. Judgement

NOT judgment

Some people get very confused whether there is an 'e' in judgement or not. To make things clear, we get back to the basics that Malaysia abides with UK English hence judgement instead of the US's judgment. Students in Malaysia will NOT be penalized for using both judgement and judgment but isn't it better to spell correctly?

Similar: 
Argument NOT arguement, 
Instalment NOT installment (American) 

4. A lot

NOT alot

I've seen many using the term 'alot' as if it's a single word but there is no 'alot' in English. There should be a space in between them. 

5. Maintenance

NOT maintainance

The word 'maintenance' originates from 'maintain' which carries the meaning to sustain something. However, you don't just add 'ance' to the word; you change it to 'maintenance'. 

6. Surprise

NOT suprise

I often encounter students eating away the letter 'r' to make a 'su-prise'. 

7. Pronunciation

NOT pronounciation

You pronounce a word using its pronunciation but not 'pronounciation'. 

8. Explanation

NOT explaination

When you wish to use the noun form of the verb 'explain', remove the 'i' and add 'ation' at the end. 

9. Occasion

NOT occassion or ocassion

Only one 's' is needed for occasion. 

10. Accommodation 

NOT acomodation, accomodation, or acommodation

Always remember that accommodation has two doubles, the 'c' and 'm'. 

11. Until 

NOT untill

'Till' has two 'l's but until has a single 'l'. 

12. Receive

NOT recieve

Many of my students tend to switch the place of 'i' and 'e'. 

Similar: 
Deceive NOT decieve
Perceive NOT percieve

However, achieve is different. 

13. Knowledge

NOT knowlege

Do not forget the letter 'd'. However, privilege has no 'd'. English is weird, I know. 

14. Forty

NOT fourty

4 = four
14 = fourteen
14th = fourteenth 
40 = forty
40th = fortieth
40s = forties 

15. Curiosity

NOT curiousity

You're curious but when you say curiosity, remove the letter 'u'. 

So there you go. Spelling English words the right and proper way. Good luck! 


Disclaimer: I do not label myself as an English expert but sharing also means learning. Nobody has perfect English but I believe learning knows no boundary. Feel free to correct me by commenting on my blog or Facebook posts/profile. I also welcome suggestions, ideas and any English-related info. 

13 Grammar Mistakes Malaysians Should NOT Make

Like many other languages in the world, Grammar constitutes a large part of English and if you fail Grammar, you fail English. Nevertheless, Grammar is a very complex and convoluted section that many have problems coping with. 

Grammar is taught directly to students in very distinctive parts. For example, tenses, pronouns, verbs, adjectives etc. Some students are able to connect the topics and create an English network in their brain thus they are capable of using them the right way. But those who cannot see the link between these separate aspects may fail to master English. These are the basic common errors that my students and people around me often make. 

1. THEN / THAN

Then is used to say 'after that', meaning a subsequent action taken after a first is done. For example:

I am going to eat now. Then I will take a shower. 

Than is used for comparisons. It is used after a comparative adjective. For example:

Marie is taller than her sister. 

2. MANY / MUCH

Many is used for countable nouns whereas much refers to uncountable nouns. For example:

I have many friends. (because we can count our friends)

I love my mother very much. (because we cannot count love)

3. THOUGHT / TAUGHT

Thought is something you have in mind while taught is the past tense for teach. Examples:

I thought you weren't coming. 

Mrs. Tan taught me Grammar in school today. 

4. LOSE / LOOSE

Lose is the opposite (antonym) of win. You'd say 'I am not going to lose'. However, loose implies the opposite of tight. For example, 'The pants is too loose for me'. 

5. AFFECT / EFFECT

Affect is a verb while effect is a noun. You use affect when somebody or something influences another. For example:

The weather affects my mood today. 

Effect, on the other hand, is the consequences of somebody's action or an occurrence. Using the above example:

The effect of a bad weather is a bad mood. 

6. PRACTISE / PRACTICE & ADVISE / ADVICE

When do you use 'S' or 'C'?

NOUN: practice, advice

VERB: practise, advise

Examples:

I am going to practise my piano later. 

I have piano practice later.

My sister advises me not to skip class. 

My sister gave me a good advice. 

7. TO / WILL / SHALL / SHOULD / WOULD / CAN / COULD / MAY / MIGHT

Always use the ORIGINAL form of word after the above words. You can't say 'I am going to ate my lunch' or 'I should bought the computer'. 

Example of original form of a word: BREAK and NOT breaks, breaking or broke

8. I / ME

'I' should be used as the subject of a sentence while 'me' is an object in a sentence. Usually, the subject is used in front of a sentence or phrase (the person performing the action) while object is used at the back of a sentence or phrase (an action is done towards the person). For example,

I am going to work. (The person I is doing the action of going to work)

My boss will bring me for lunch today. (Bring is the action done towards me)

9. YOUR / YOU'RE

I was wondering if I should highlight this but this seems to be a pretty serious mistake done by most people, especially those who love using short forms on the internet or via text messages. 

As obvious as it is, 'your' is a pronoun that carries a meaning of possession while 'you're' is the short for 'you are'. 

10. THEY'RE / THEIR / THERE

This is very severe mistake done by my students who are still unable to differentiate the three even after years of learning English. 

They're  refers to "They are" which could be followed by a verb, noun or adjective. For example:

VERB: They're eating. 

NOUN: They're students. 

ADJECTIVE: They're tall. 

Their is a pronoun used to refer possession to a group of people. For example: 

The girls love their mothers. 'Their' here refers to the girls. 

There is an adverb to point to a specific place or to generalize something within a bounded area. For example:

There is a kitten in the box. A specific place - box

There are many place in the supermarket. A bounded area - supermarket

11. ITS / IT'S

The usage of its and it's tells me how vast the difference an apostrophe makes. 

Its is a pronoun used to refer possession to an animal, baby of unknown gender or a non-living thing. For example, 

The cat is licking its tail. 'Its' here refers to the cat.

It's simply means it is. 

12. ONE OF THE 

When you intend to say "one of the", the noun that follows must be plural. For example:

One of the boys in my class, One of the children here, etc. 

13. PROBABLY / PROPERLY

I've seen people using probably as properly and vice versa. 

Probably = maybe, perhaps
Properly = doing it the right or correct way

There are many more but these are the very basic ones. 

Thank you for reading!