TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: plural form of 'equipment' ? From:linda_sims -at- vanguard -dot- com To:Sandy Nicholson <sandy -at- ambertext -dot- co -dot- uk> Date:Mon, 17 Jul 2006 14:10:11 -0400
Sandy Nicholson wrote on 07/17/2006 02:00:37 PM:
<snip>
> OK - but: (a) I suspect most people would talk about `breeds of
> sheep' and `species of fish' rather than `sheeps' and `fishes'; (b) I
> was referring specifically to Lin's (Linda's) assertion that
> `equipment', like `sheep', can be both singular and plural - so I was
> using `sheep' in the everyday sense of the word.
<snip>
In my own defense, until today I had never, ever heard of count nouns or
mass nouns, though I know of collective nouns--and I'm a native
English-speaking, English major technical writer! I was taught that a
noun that could refer to either one or many of the same thing was a
collective noun. Obviously, something was left out of my education, and
I'm going to have to fix that.
(And yeah, I prefer Lin. The company e-mail is always set up with the
legal name, though.)
Lin Sims
The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion
of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was
accessed.
CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT. The information contained in this e-mail message, including attachments, is the confidential information of, and/or is the property of, Vanguard. The information is intended for use solely by the individual or entity named in the message. If you are not an intended recipient or you received this in error, then any review, printing, copying, or distribution of any such information is prohibited, and please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and then delete this e-mail from your system.
WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
