[0:00]In English, you would say, "I have one car, I have two cars." Of course, you know about singular and plural nouns.
[0:10]But did you know there are many common words in English that don't have a plural form?
[0:18]Today, you'll learn why you should never add S to these common words.
[0:25]Welcome back to JForest English. Of course, I'm Jennifer, now let's get started.
[0:29]What do you think about this sentence?
[0:32]I have some informations for you.
[0:35]I hear this from students, even my most advanced students, but this sentence is incorrect.
[0:43]You must say, "I have some information for you." So never add S to information.
[0:52]You could also say, if you wanted to specify one, you could say, "I have a piece of information for you."
[1:03]So here you're saying, "a piece of."
[1:07]Now, that means one. If you wanted to make it sound like two, you would say, "I have two pieces of information for you."
[1:17]So notice, you add the S to pieces, which is the unit of measurement, but you never add S to information.
[1:27]Now, you could always change the word and say, "I have some reports or some articles for you," because both of these words take a plural form.
[1:39]You can add an S to them. Don't worry about taking notes because I summarize everything in a free lesson PDF. You can find the link in the description.
[1:48]Now, you might be wondering, Jennifer, why can't I add S?
[1:53]Well, it's because information and all the words that you'll learn in this lesson are uncountable nouns.
[2:02]Which means they don't have a plural form, so you say, "I need some information, not informations."
[2:08]Even though some sounds plural, more than one, you don't add an S. So you don't say informations.
[2:15]Now, also notice that you don't use singular articles. So you don't add A or An.
[2:24]You can simply say, "I need information, not an information."
[2:30]And also notice you can use a quantifier, some, or a unit of measurement, which in this case is a piece of.
[2:40]What do you think about this sentence?
[2:43]She gave me many furnitures.
[2:46]This sentence is incorrect.
[2:50]Because furniture is an uncountable noun, because it's an uncountable noun, you also cannot say many.
[2:58]Instead, you can say, "She gave me some much a lot of furniture."
[3:08]Or you can use a unit of measurement. She gave me a piece of furniture.
[3:16]You can also use an item of furniture.
[3:19]Or you could use a noun that is a regular noun.
[3:23]She gave me a couch, two tables, and three chairs.
[3:30]So also remember, many is used with plural countable nouns.
[3:35]Some, much, a lot of are used with uncountable nouns.
[3:43]You can't say, "She shared all her researches on the topic," because research is an uncountable noun.
[3:51]She shared all her research on the topic. Never add an S to research on the topic.
[3:59]Now, you can use a different verb with research.
[4:03]It's common to use do or conduct research.
[4:06]She's done or conducted so much research.
[4:12]Or you can use a countable noun.
[4:16]She's done one study/two studies on the topic.
[4:21]You can also say, "She presented her research findings at the conference."
[4:29]You can add findings, which is always plural, and then research tells you what type of findings.
[4:37]You can't say, "I need more evidences before I decide."
[4:43]You can say, "I need more evidence before I decide."
[4:48]Or you can use a countable noun. I need more facts/statistics before I decide.
[4:55]Now, if you want to use a unit of measurement, you can say, "The police found two key pieces of evidence."
[5:03]Remember that S goes on the unit of measurement, two pieces of evidence, and maybe even use an adjective, two key pieces of evidence.
[5:13]Don't say, "I need to pack some stuffs for the trip."
[5:19]I need to pack some stuff, an uncountable noun.
[5:24]Now, you can use, "I need to pack some things/items for the trip."
[5:32]Now, both stuff and things, this represents unspecified items, possessions, or tasks that you need to do.
[5:47]I'm sure you have said, "I have so much stuff to do tonight."
[5:53]Or, "I have so many things to do tonight."
[5:57]Don't say, "The gym bought many equipments."
[6:02]You can say, "The gym bought much/so much/a lot of equipment."
[6:10]Or you can say, "They gave us three pieces, remember with that S, of equipment, no S."
[6:18]Or you can use a countable noun. They bought three sets of weights, five treadmills, and 10 mats.
[6:24]So notice here, set of is the unit of measurement, but because weight is a regular noun, you still add that S because it's plural.
[6:33]They bought three sets of weights, five treadmills, and 10 mats.
[6:41]I certainly hope you don't say, "I did all my English homeworks."
[6:47]Because homework is an uncountable noun. I did all my English homework, never with an S.
[6:54]Or you can say, "I did three assignments, tasks, presentations, reports."
[6:59]A regular noun, tasks, presentations, reports.
[7:03]And you can even add homework before. I did three homework assignments to let you know what type of assignments.
[7:12]Also make sure you say, "I have tons of work to do."
[7:17]I have tons of homework, I have tons of work, never with an S. They're uncountable nouns, they're always singular.
[7:26]And also, do not say, "Jennifer, thanks for all your feedbacks."
[7:32]You need to say, "Thanks for all your feedback," because it's an uncountable noun.
[7:38]Countable nouns are things for your corrections with an S, comments, suggestions, revisions, or changes.
[7:50]Now, you could say, "The teacher gave me three pieces of feedback," or three corrections, for example.
[8:00]Also, don't say, "Jennifer, I appreciate your helps."
[8:05]You may know this. Help is an uncountable noun. I appreciate your help.
[8:11]Help, support, guidance, assistance, care, they are all uncountable nouns, so never add an S.
[8:21]And do not say, "I want to learn new vocabularies."
[8:27]With an S. Vocabulary is uncountable. I want to learn new vocabulary.
[8:35]Or you can use a countable noun. I want to learn new words/phrases/nouns.
[8:44]Phrasal verbs, idioms, expressions, many other countable nouns.
[8:48]Now, what about this sentence? The students have limited vocabularies.
[8:56]This is correct. In this sentence, vocabularies in the plural form, it sounds like, "Paul has a limited vocabulary."
[9:07]Jane has a limited vocabulary. Paul and Jane have limited vocabularies.
[9:15]So it is two individual vocabularies together.
[9:19]Don't say, "The traffics are bad today."
[9:24]Traffic is uncountable, but also remember that it may impact your verb choice.
[9:31]So you need a singular verb conjugation with uncountable nouns. The traffic is bad today.
[9:40]Countable nouns are, the roads, the streets, the highways.
[9:46]Now, because they're plural, you need are. The roads are bad today.
[9:52]Or you can say, "There are so many cars on the road."
[9:57]Don't tell someone, "You need more sleeps."
[10:01]Just say, "You need more sleep," and equally, rest is an uncountable noun.
[10:08]But naps is a countable noun. You need more naps. I had three naps today.
[10:14]Also, remember that sleep is a verb.
[10:19]So if you see it with an S, "She sleeps for eight hours every night," this is because it's the verb conjugated in the present simple with third person singular.
[10:33]If it were a noun, it's uncountable, so no S.
[10:36]She gets eight hours of sleep. So sleep is a noun and get is the verb in this sentence.
[10:44]Don't say, "You need to make more progresses."
[10:49]Progress is an uncountable noun. You need to make more progress.
[10:55]Or use a countable noun. You need to make more improvements/developments. Again, these can be verbs.
[11:05]So you could say, "You need to progress, to improve, to develop more." But those are verbs.
[11:13]Don't say, "I heard some great musics."
[11:17]Simply, "I heard some great music," uncountable.
[11:22]But common countable nouns, "I heard a great song, because remember, if it's singular and countable, you need either a number, one great song, or an article, a great song."
[11:36]Two great songs with the S.
[11:41]Or you can say, "I heard three new artists/bands at the music festival."
[11:48]Just like music, don't say, "I heard some great poetries."
[11:54]Again, that's a uncountable noun. I heard some great poetry.
[11:59]Poems is countable. So you can say, "I heard some great poems." Or maybe, "She wrote three books of poetry."
[12:10]So book of is the unit of measurement, books of poetry, or three great books of poems, because remember poems is countable.
[12:22]Don't say, "We had so many funs last night."
[12:26]You may know that doesn't sound great. Say, "We had so much fun last night."
[12:35]You can also use a great time. We had a great time last night.
[12:43]And you can use a different adjective, we had an amazing time. Now, this is a countable noun.
[12:49]So we had some great times together over the years.
[12:57]So one great time, one great time, one great time, and together it's countable.
[13:02]Now you have a list of common words you should never add an S to. If you want me to keep helping you expand your vocabulary, vocabulary, put yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, put yes, yes, yes in the comments below.
[13:17]And of course, make sure you like this lesson, share it with your friends, and subscribe so you're notified every time I post a new lesson.
[13:25]And you can get this free speaking guide where I share six tips on how to speak English fluently and confidently. You can click here to download it or look for the link in the description.
[13:34]And here's another lesson I know you'll love. Watch it now.
