3. Collective nouns can be SINGULAR or PLURAL:
army, association, audience,
band, cast, class, club, college,
committee, community, company,
crew, crowd, department,
electorate, enemy, family, media,
press, generation, government,
group, jury, opposition, orchestra,
population, press, public, school,
team, university.
The tendency is to use a
singular verb in formal
contexts (The government
has/have planned…)
4. Adjectivos referring to groups of people
Definite article + verb in PLURAL:
The homeless are the first to be evacuated
from the area.
5. Persons usually appears in formal
contexts and instructions. Ex:
We have the right to exclude unauthorized
persons form the site.
It should be avoided and people should
be used instead. Ex:
Young people (not persons) cannot be
allowed to clean this machine.
Peoples conveys the idea of different
races and nationalites. Ex.
I respect the equal rights of peoples and
their right to self-determination.
In certain contexts, person or persons
can have a pejorative meaning. Ex.
Snubby is one of those persons whom
it’s better to look back to.
6. UNCONTABLES (they can neither be
used with a/an nor in the plural form)
Advice
Applause
Assistance
Camping
Cash
Chaos
Clothing
Conduct
Employment
Equipment
Evidence
Furniture
Health
Homework
Information
Leisure
Luggage
Machinery
Money
Music
Parking
Pollution
Research
Scenery
Shopping
Sightseeing
Transport
7. The police found some evidence of the
crime.
He gave me some advice/a piece of
advice
8. Some nouns can be used
as uncountable when they refer to a general idea and
as countable when they refer to a specific idea:
The desire for knowledge is a
fundamental human instinct.
You’d be able to get a basic
knowledge of some statistical
techniques.
Nouns in this group are: business,
knowledge, sound, land,
abuse, conversation,
(dis)agreement, difficulty,
improvement, pain, pleasure,
protest, space, thought, war.