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SuperESL Posted 14 years ago
Vocabulary
Material/materials
"The material she uses in her book is very familiar."
"The materials she use in her book are very familiar."
Should I use material or materials on occasions like this? I know that I should say "she is collecting material for her novel." Here 'material' seems to be a mass noun that refers to a combination of concrete research materials (books, documents, etc) and abstract things like ideas. But in the sentences in quotation marks above, the word seems to be referring specifically to concrete items, so perhaps I should always say 'materials' in cases like this? Is this the right way to think about this issue?
Thank you.
"The materials she use in her book are very familiar."
Should I use material or materials on occasions like this? I know that I should say "she is collecting material for her novel." Here 'material' seems to be a mass noun that refers to a combination of concrete research materials (books, documents, etc) and abstract things like ideas. But in the sentences in quotation marks above, the word seems to be referring specifically to concrete items, so perhaps I should always say 'materials' in cases like this? Is this the right way to think about this issue?
Thank you.
Top answer
SuperESL Is this the right way to think about this issue? In general yes, you are correct. In the particular example you provide I would say that both sentences are correct.
- SuperESL Is this the right way to think about this issue?
- In general yes, you are correct.
- In the particular example you provide I would say that both sentences are correct.
- Which one the author uses will depend on how he is thinking of the material(s) that were used in the book.
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1 Answers
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SuperESL Is this the right way to think about this issue?In general yes, you are correct.
In the particular example you provide I would say that both sentences are correct. Which one the author uses will depend on how he is thinking of the material(s) that were used in the book.
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