It’s acceptable to use either “food” or “foods” to demonstrate the plural form of the singular “food.” But, the context and usage are what will determine the difference in proper grammar. This means, that even though both are plural, there are certain situations where using one or the other may sound a little strange.
However, to be on the safe side of things, you should always go with “foods” when in doubt. This is because “food” isn’t necessarily a countable noun as say apples, peaches and bananas are. We tend to use “foods” when we imply the different types of food that exist and “food” when we just mean “food” in general.
About Countable versus Uncountable Nouns
A countable noun means you can give an object a definite unit, measurement, or metric. An uncountable noun can be either plural or singular. “Food” fits this definition like other words such as information, furniture, and water, among others.
This means we can’t assign a numeric value to uncountable words because it doesn’t serve the proper function in English. In regards to grammar, you will write “food” in accordance with singular agreement rules. This can be for singular suggestion or it is indicative of plurality. Or, at least it can infer plurality.
For example, you wouldn’t really say: “I have five foods.” This is technically correct usage and grammar, but it doesn’t feel or sound correct. You would be more specific: “I have some food. There are two peaches, two apples, and one banana.”
Consider the examples below to see how “food” can be both plural and singular:
Singular: The healthiest food is delicious and has fewer calories. [indicative of plurality]
Plural: The healthiest foods are delicious and have fewer calories. [directly plural]
Singular: Food high in vitamin C is good for illnesses, including cold and flu. [indicative of plurality]
Plural: Foods high in vitamin C are good for illnesses, including cold and flu. [directly plural]
Singular: Food for dinner tonight includes beef wellington, potatoes au gratin and some carrots. [indicative of plurality]
Plural: Foods for dinner tonight include beef wellington, potatoes au gratin and some carrots. [directly plural]
Conclusion
Since both “food” and “foods” are an acceptable plural form of the singular form of “food,” there’s really not much to remember. When you want to place a numeric value to show the amount of food, then you will have to be more specific to demonstrate the types of foods you’re talking about.
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Conor is the main writer here at One Minute English and was an English teacher for 10 years. He is interested in helping people with their English skills and learning about using A.I tools at work.
еда, питание, пища, продовольствие, корм, съестные припасы, провизия
существительное ↓
- пища; питание; еда
- пища
mental /spiritual/ food — духовная пища
food for thought /reflection/ — пища для размышлений
- продукты питания, продовольствие, съестные припасы
- корм (животных); питательные вещества (для растений)
food chopper — нож для резки продуктов
food cup — с.-х. кормушка
food cutter — с.-х. корморезка
food for powder, food for the flames — пушечное мясо
to be food for fishes — утонуть
to be food for worms — умереть
food for squirrels — а) тупица, болван; б) псих; в) глупая затея; ≅ мартышкин труд
Мои примеры
Словосочетания
a farmer who grows his own food — фермер, который питается тем, что вырастил сам
the absorption of iron from food — поглощение железа из пищи
slop the food onto the plate — плеснуть еду на тарелку
broken food — объедки, оставшиеся на столе
fast-food chain — сеть ресторанов быстрого обслуживания
chary in one’s food — разборчивый в еде
delicious food — бесподобная еда
food that fills — сытная пища
coarse food — грубая пища
exotic food — экзотическая пища
fine food — хорошая еда
finger food — пища, которую едят руками
Примеры с переводом
Food was short.
Еды было мало.
I love French food.
Я обожаю французскую кухню.
The food ran out.
Еда закончилась.
Mexican food
Мексиканская кухня
Chinese food
Китайская кухня
Food sustains life.
Пища поддерживает жизненные силы.
What is your favorite food?
Что вы любите есть?
ещё 23 примера свернуть
Примеры, ожидающие перевода
She made a joke about the food in a muttered aside to her husband.
…a chef who airily kisses off the cuisine of his rivals as homey comfort food…
…the wealthy couple are generous hosts, providing a bottomless supply of food and drink…
Для того чтобы добавить вариант перевода, кликните по иконке ☰, напротив примера.
Возможные однокоренные слова
foodful — изобильный, плодородный, богатый
foodless — без пищи, голодный, бесплодный, бедный
Формы слова
noun
ед. ч.(singular): food
мн. ч.(plural): foods
Food is both plural and singular.
There is a group of words in the English language that are «uncountable» — in order to count them, you have to use a «counter». Food is one of them. Water, juice, wood, air are others.
In order to count these things (and make them singular or plural), they either have to be grouped into some countable «container» (baskets of food, glasses of water or juice, canisters of compressed air etc.), or you can use the words «some», «much» to describe them.
The way to find uncountable nouns is to see if you can «count» them without any other «container» between the number and the item:
«One cake»
«Two Cakes» — this word is countable
«One wood»
«Two woods» — not really. It would be better to say «One piece of wood». This word is uncountable.
«Foods» can be used when referring to different kinds of things, but it is a much less common usage.
Does this help?
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Is the word most singular or plural?
The pronoun most can be singular or plural.
Plural: Most of the students take part in after-school
activities.
Singular: Most of the food was delicious.
The number of the pronoun agrees with the number of the noun it
refers to. Students is a plural noun and therefore most is plural
in that sentence. Food is a singular noun, and so in that sentence
most is singular.
Can you give 100 examples of plural pronoun?
No, because there are not 100 plural pronouns.The plural pronouns are:weusyou (can be singular or plural)theythemthesethoseouroursyour (can be singular or plural)yours (can be singular or plural)theirtheirsourselvesyourselvesthemselvesbothfewfewermanyothersseveralall (can be singular or plural)any (can be singular or plural)more (can be singular or plural)most (can be singular or plural)none (can be singular or plural)some (can be singular or plural)such (can be singular or plural)
What is plural and what is singular for the word she?
She is singular. The plural of she is they.
What is an example of a singular subject?
I, you, he, she, one
I is singular
You is singular/plural
He/She/One is singular
We is plural
They is plural
Is are plural or singular?
Are is plural. «Is» is singular. For example, «There is a glove
on the chair». That is singular. «There are gloves on the chair».
That is plural.
Обновлено на
3 авг. 2022
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Английский (американский вариант)
Практически свободно говорящий
Food is both plural and singular.
There is a group of words in the English language that are «uncountable» — in order to count them, you have to use a «counter». Food is one of them. Water, juice, wood, air are others.
In order to count these things (and make them singular or plural), they either have to be grouped into some countable «container» (baskets of food, glasses of water or juice, canisters of compressed air etc.), or you can use the words «some», «much» to describe them.
The way to find uncountable nouns is to see if you can «count» them without any other «container» between the number and the item:
«One cake»
«Two Cakes» — this word is countable
«One wood»
«Two woods» — not really. It would be better to say «One piece of wood». This word is uncountable.
«Foods» can be used when referring to different kinds of things, but it is a much less common usage.
Food is both plural and singular.
There is a group of words in the English language that are «uncountable» — in order to count them, you have to use a «counter». Food is one of them. Water, juice, wood, air are others.
In order to count these things (and make them singular or plural), they either have to be grouped into some countable «container» (baskets of food, glasses of water or juice, canisters of compressed air etc.), or you can use the words «some», «much» to describe them.
The way to find uncountable nouns is to see if you can «count» them without any other «container» between the number and the item:
«One cake»
«Two Cakes» — this word is countable
«One wood»
«Two woods» — not really. It would be better to say «One piece of wood». This word is uncountable.
«Foods» can be used when referring to different kinds of things, but it is a much less common usage.
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Португальский (бразильский вариант)
food = comida
foods = comidas
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Английский (американский вариант)
foods is the plural version of «food» however many english speakers use «food» as the plural form as well
for example someone may ask
«what food do you like to eat?»
which implies what kinds of food you like
it is the same as asking
«what foods do you like to eat?»
again, many english speakers use «food» as the plural form in casual conversation even though it is not correct
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Английский (американский вариант)
Food is singular and is one specific category.
«The wet food has become soggy and inedible »
Foods is plural that speaks of different types within a category.
«Italy has tons of delicious food — pasta, pizza, biscotti
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Испанский
Examples
» Why do you buy so many foods»
» All the foods in the refrigerator are cold»
«My food is cold»
» My food is warm»
-
Английский (американский вариант)
Практически свободно говорящий
Food is both plural and singular.
There is a group of words in the English language that are «uncountable» — in order to count them, you have to use a «counter». Food is one of them. Water, juice, wood, air are others.
In order to count these things (and make them singular or plural), they either have to be grouped into some countable «container» (baskets of food, glasses of water or juice, canisters of compressed air etc.), or you can use the words «some», «much» to describe them.
The way to find uncountable nouns is to see if you can «count» them without any other «container» between the number and the item:
«One cake»
«Two Cakes» — this word is countable
«One wood»
«Two woods» — not really. It would be better to say «One piece of wood». This word is uncountable.
«Foods» can be used when referring to different kinds of things, but it is a much less common usage.
Food is both plural and singular.
There is a group of words in the English language that are «uncountable» — in order to count them, you have to use a «counter». Food is one of them. Water, juice, wood, air are others.
In order to count these things (and make them singular or plural), they either have to be grouped into some countable «container» (baskets of food, glasses of water or juice, canisters of compressed air etc.), or you can use the words «some», «much» to describe them.
The way to find uncountable nouns is to see if you can «count» them without any other «container» between the number and the item:
«One cake»
«Two Cakes» — this word is countable
«One wood»
«Two woods» — not really. It would be better to say «One piece of wood». This word is uncountable.
«Foods» can be used when referring to different kinds of things, but it is a much less common usage.
-
Английский (американский вариант)
«Look at all the different types of foods!»
«Wow that’s a lot of food!»
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Английский (американский вариант)
-
Филиппинский язык
no there is not .You cant Say FOODs Its wrong .The exact is FOOD no other than
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Английский (американский вариант)
-
Филиппинский язык
no there is no term of foods .Whether many or just one .The exact word to describe is Food .
-
Английский (американский вариант)
Практически свободно говорящий
You can also say foods it depends on the structure of the sentence.
-
Английский (американский вариант)
-
Филиппинский язык
cayobit88 .I learn it from my Teacher .
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Английский (американский вариант)
Практически свободно говорящий
Foods can be used when referring to diff. kinds of things.
«Cheese is a food made from milk»
… and in this form, you can pluralise it …
«Italy is the source of many delicious foods — pizza, pasta, salami, biscotti…
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Английский (американский вариант)
This is a great example of a word in transition. English is a living language, and over time, some things change.
«Food» used to be an uncountable word. In other words, its singular and plural forms are the same.
Wow! Look at all that food!
Today, however, there are many cases where «foods» is considered acceptable. We even have a grocery store chain named «Whole Foods Market».
Personally, I find the use of «foods» strange.
http://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/food
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Португальский (бразильский вариант)
food=singular
foods=plural
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Испанский (венесуэльский вариант)
-
Итальянский
Практически свободно говорящий
-
Испанский
food=음식 goods=식사
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Английский (американский вариант)
food is singular while foods is plural meaning more than one
-
Арабский
-
Английский (британский вариант)
-
Английский (американский вариант)
Hi
-
Арабский
-
Английский (британский вариант)
-
Английский (американский вариант)
I Want to learn English anyone help me please
-
Английский (американский вариант)
Foods is plural (meaning more than one) it’s usually used when you’ve had more than one meal.
«I’ve had so many different kinds of foods today.»
As compared to food being singular and referring to one item of food or one meal.
«I don’t think I’ve had any food today.»
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Португальский (бразильский вариант)
food is singular and foods plural
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Английский (американский вариант)
«Food,» like «wood.» Is non-count when it means food in general, anything edible. Both words are only properly used in the plural when the meaning is «(a) KIND/VARIETY of food.» A table is made of wood (the material in general), but the maker used three woods(three kinds of wood): walnut, maple, & cherry. Ditto for food(s) these days, among some younger people. Personally, I prefer to say «kinds of food» still, as most people over 50 probably do.
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