The plural of no is either “noes” or “nos” (e.g., “There are more noes/nos than yeses, so we won’t go through with the plan”). It is also generally considered acceptable to use an apostrophe to indicate the plural noun since that can make the meaning more clear (“I hope I find a job soon; I can’t take any more no’s”).
Consult your style guide to determine which form is preferred for your setting. It’s also typically possible to rephrase a sentence to avoid using the plural of no. For example, instead of saying “16 noes,” you could say “16 ‘no’ votes” or “16 people voted no.”
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Continue reading: What is the plural of no?
Data can be used as a singular or plural noun. In Latin, “data” is plural and “datum” is singular, but “datum” isn’t used in modern English. Some style guides recommend always treating “data” as plural (e.g., “The data are inconclusive”), but other style guides permit using it as a singular collective noun (e.g., “The data is inconclusive”).
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Not quite. “Follow-up,” written with a hyphen, is a compound noun meaning “a continuation or repetition of something already started.”
“Follow up,” written as two words, is a phrasal verb that means “to pursue or investigate something further.”
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Not exactly. “Checkup,” written as one word, is a compound noun that means “an examination.”
“Check up,” written as two words, is a phrasal verb that means “to get information about.” You can check up on someone or something.
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Continue reading: Is check up a compound noun?
A phrase is a group of words that work together as a unit (e.g., “the book in my bag”). They don’t contain both a subject and a verb; instead, they function as a specific part of speech (verb, noun, adjective, adverb, etc.).
A few examples are noun phrases, verb phrases, prepositional phrases, adjective phrases, and adverbial phrases.
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A noun phrase with a verb in -ing is typically a gerund phrase (e.g., “swimming in the ocean”).
A gerund is a verb ending in -ing that functions as a noun (e.g., “eating”).
A gerund phrase includes the gerund and modifiers, which add the extra information. In the gerund phrase above, the modifier is the prepositional phrase “in the ocean.”
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Continue reading: What’s a noun phrase with a verb in -ing?
The reciprocal pronouns in English are each other and one another. They indicate a mutual relationship between two or more people or things in which each performs the same action toward the other (e.g., “We gave each other a gift”; “Everyone should respect one another”).
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Countable nouns refer to things that can be counted (e.g., “book”). They can be pluralized (e.g., “books”) or preceded by an indefinite article (e.g., “a book”) or a number (e.g., “three books”).
Uncountable nouns (also known as mass nouns) refer to anything that cannot be counted and is always treated as a mass (e.g., “information,” “research,” “advice”). They cannot be pluralized and are never preceded by an indefinite article or a number, though they can be preceded by an indefinite quantifier (e.g., “some,” “any,” “little”) or the definite article, “the.”
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The possessive noun form is United States’ (e.g., “the United States’ largest park”). Even though “United States” is treated as a singular noun, “States” itself is plural. So, it follows the rule of adding only an apostrophe to form the possessive.
“United States” is not typically used in its possessive form, though. It is often more natural to use a prepositional phrase (e.g., “the largest park in the United States”).
Additionally, “United States,” or “US,” is often used as an adjective rather than a possessive (e.g., “the US economy”).
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Y’all is the correct way to write the contraction for “you all.” “Yall” is a misspelling.
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Continue reading: Is it yall or y’all?
