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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Types of food/foods and types of fruit/fruits

Hi. What is the difference?

There are various types of food/foods. Various types of food/foods will be offered here.

There are various types of fruit/fruits. Various types of fruit/fruits will be offered here.
  

Top answer

It is plural in every case because it is stated so with 'various types'. ' And, ' Tropical fruits are more readily available than when I was a kid'. Therefore, use 'foods' and 'fruits'.

— Cwtch

  • It is plural in every case because it is stated so with 'various types'.
  • ' And, ' Tropical fruits are more readily available than when I was a kid'.
  • Therefore, use 'foods' and 'fruits'.
  • Although, in casual conversation, you will hear both plural and singular.
  • The plural form comes across a bit affected in speech, at least to an American.
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4 Answers
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It is plural in every case because it is stated so with 'various types'. It is similar to 'Breakfast foods are becoming healthier.' And, ' Tropical fruits are more readily available than when I was a kid'. Therefore, use 'foods' and 'fruits'. Although, in casual conversation, you will hear both plural and singular. The plural form comes across a bit affected in speech, at least to an American
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Hi. Thank you. Would you say this is wrong? This is one of many that I got when I did a Google Book Search (among many others) with the words "various types of fruit."


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Of all the various types of fruit available for human consumption apples
are the most popular and widely-used variety.
This is correct.
.

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Merriam-Webster does use 'fruits' in some case. Random House uses 'fruits' as a plural for a collective. I think either choice is acceptable.

Please see below.

noun, plural fruits, (especially collectively
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