Collective nouns
1 Would you like a piece of cake?
2 The army of ants are climbing up the table.
I don't understand the noun (cake / ants) is different. Why? Should we put plural noun or singular noun?
Top answer
Vincent Teo a piece of cake? A piece of cake is no doubt a single noun. An army (of ants are) climbing up the table.
- Vincent Teo a piece of cake?
- A piece of cake is no doubt a single noun.
- An army (of ants are) climbing up the table.
- An army could be a collective noun which is viewed as singular.
- However, in this context of ants, plural is also correct because the verb (are climbing) are immediately following the noun ( ants).
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Vincent Teoa piece of cake? A piece of cake is no doubt a single noun.
An army (of ants are) climbing up the table. An army could be a collective noun which is viewed as singular. However, in this context of ants, plural is also correct because the verb (are climbing) are immediately following th
0cake here refers to the substance called cake, and so it is uncountable.
You can say
eg I bought 3 cakes. Meaning 3 round objects that were baked by the baker.
eg I bought cake. I bought some of the substance called cake.
ants are countable. Although it is often hard to count them!
01. You are offering one piece of a whole cake.
What if?
Would you like a couple of pieces of cake? (Offering more than one piece.)
Would you like a piece of these cakes? (Offering one piece from a choice o
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