Is "trial and error" countable or uncountable?
Dear teachers,
I saw two expressions from an article as seen below:
- much trial and error
- innumerable trials and errors
Are both expressions correct?
Thanks and best regards,
David Kim
Top answer
"trial and error" is a set phrase that is treated as uncountable. From Google results, it seems that some people use "trials and errors" as an alternative or derivative set phrase. Wiktionary even gives "trials and errors" as a "plural" of "trial and error".
- "trial and error" is a set phrase that is treated as uncountable.
- From Google results, it seems that some people use "trials and errors" as an alternative or derivative set phrase.
- Wiktionary even gives "trials and errors" as a "plural" of "trial and error".
- For me, the pluralisation rather breaks the set phrase and forces it to be understood as a literal combination of "trials" and "errors".
- Opinions on this may vary.
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"trial and error" is a set phrase that is treated as uncountable.
From Google results, it seems that some people use "trials and errors" as an alternative or derivative set phrase. Wiktionary even gives "trials and errors" as a "plural" of "trial and error". For me, the pluralisation rather breaks the set phrase and forces it to be understood as a literal combination of "trials" and "err
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