Nouns: meaning and clear style

Learn: meaning changes how we use a noun

Meaning determines countability. Coffee is usually a substance, but two coffees can mean two servings.

Worked example: I ordered two coffees. Here, coffees means servings. We grow coffee. Here, coffee names the crop or substance.

Learn: find the head noun

Find the head noun when choosing a verb. A noun such as approval can name an action, but a direct verb is often clearer in an everyday email.

Worked example: Information about the changes is available. Information controls is; the nearby plural word changes does not.

Try three short tasks

1. Explain what coffees means in I ordered two coffees.
2. Complete and explain: The number of complaints ___ fallen.
3. Rewrite A discussion of the problem was undertaken by us as a direct everyday email sentence.

Write your own answers before checking. The app classroom has a fuller guided and independent practice unit; this page is a free lesson preview.