putting "s" after level

Question

Hi I dont understand when to put "s" after level? Thank you for you help in advance

Here are examples from dictionary:
1) Inflation fell to its lowest level in 30 years
2) Increased supplies are needed to meet the level of demand
3) Dolphins show a high level of intelligence
4) Some kinds of fish contain high levels of dangerous metals
5) Sales have reached record levels
6) Noise levels are unacceptably high
7) Wage levels had failed to keep up with inflation
8) I find exercise helps with my stress levels
9) Pollution levels have fallen slightly
10) The fees are likely to remain at current levels

KrisBlueNZ · Accepted Answer

The basic distinction is singular/plural. If you're talking about one quantity, you use LEVEL; if you're talking about more than one quantity, use LEVELS.

"Inflation fell to its lowest level in 30 years" - singular; INFLATION (in a single country over a single period of time) is a single number; for example, "3% per annum".
"Increased supplies are needed to meet the level of demand" - singular - DEMAND is a single quantity. This case is more complicated though, because of the construction "LEVEL OF collective-noun". Even if we were talking about more than one type of DEMAND, with this construction, you would not use DEMANDS - "LEVEL of demands" and "LEVELS of demands" are both wrong in this construction, and "LEVEL of demand" and "LEVELS of demand" are the correct singular and plural forms. There's bound to be a grammar term that explains this but I don't know it, I'm sorry. Just another ridiculous rule for you to learn.
"Dolphins show a high level of intelligence" - singular: A (singular) high LEVEL (singular) of INTELLIGENCE (singular).
"Some kinds of fish contain high levels of dangerous metals" - plural: high LEVELS (plural) of dangerous METALS (plural).
"Sales have reached record levels" - plural: SALES (plural) have (plural) reached record LEVELS (plural).
"Noise levels are unacceptably high" - plural: noise LEVELS (plural) ARE (plural) unacceptably high.
"Wage levels had failed to keep up with inflation" - plural - wage LEVELS (plural) HAD (singular or plural) failed ..."
"I find exercise helps with my stress levels" - I would actually use LEVEL, because STRESS is really a single quantity, so you should say "LEVEL of stress" and "stress LEVEL". The use of LEVELS here makes STRESS a plural quantity; maybe the writer is trying to refer to the amount of stress experienced at different times of day, or different aspects of stress (e.g. physical stress, emotional stress, mental stress).
"Pollution levels have fallen slightly" - plural: pollution LEVELS (plural) HAVE (plural) fallen slightly. This can also be rephrased as "LEVELS OF pollution have fallen slightly" which is the plural version of "LEVEL OF collective-noun" construction that's used in the singular "level of demand" earlier.
"The fees are likely to remain at current levels" - plural: FEES (plural) ARE (plural) likely to remain at current LEVELS (plural).
I've tried to explain this as best I can, but I'm sure an expert like BillJ could explain it much more precisely.

putting "s" after level

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions