Tips on How to Use Singular and Massive Nouns in Research Works

Scientific writing is an intricate and massive type of work. It requires author’s devotion and a desire to dig deeper. That is why absorbed by developing a sophisticated topic and elaborating earthshaking ideas, a writer might not pay attention to some grammar details. However, it does not matter how valuable the issues discussed are, such silly mistakes might spoil the whole paper.

Problems the Writers Face Completing Scientific Research

One of the frequent problems of such kind is mass nouns. The regular nouns cause no puzzlement as their form their plurality simply adding “s.” But still, there are things which confuse people all the time. In the article, we’ll take a close look at this grammar point.

• Noun groups

There are two noun groups we differentiate: count and mass nouns. The main contrasting feature is the ability to be added up. Countable ones refer to the detached, separate, and single items. Mass nouns could be described as rather undistinguished and collective.

• Peculiarities of mass nouns

Non-count or uncountable nouns usually denote some abstract or collective things. For instance, it is not correct to say “Would you like a coffee?” instead of article you would use a quantifier “some” or a countable noun “cup.” In this simple example, “coffee” signifies liquid, so it is incalculable. Therefore, you should use some measurements to indicate various things in your experiment. The mass noun does not undergo any changes.

• Often used words

Among the list of commonly used words in the scientific writings are research and data. They are trickier than it might seem from the first glance. Scholars traditionally define that “data” is plural and “datum” is its singular. In most cases it refers to particular figures, arithmetical calculations, and assessments, which are considered to be plural and should be used with the right plural verb form.

One more important point is to pay attention to the concrete context of a paper. It appears that “data” could also be applied as a mass noun, so it should be interpreted as a singular. For example, in IT sphere “data” frequently operates this way. It could be explained by the fact that it denominates a chunk of information that could be accumulated and stored.

On the contrary, “research” is always identified as a mass noun. It happens that the writers make an effort to make a plural form out of it “researches.” There is no doubt it would confuse your instructor. Research describes the continual process of discovering a certain issue. So, whenever you want to define its number, put the word “study” into use.

To sum up, grammar is a very important component of scientific writing, there are some details which seem to be minor, but they could make a bad impression on the reader. Therefore, take into account all the ideas about applying singular and plural forms of nouns while composing your paper. What is more, take notice of the context and some exceptions.