police 到底要用單數還是複數?water 可不可數?英文「集合名詞」一次搞懂!

police到底該用單數還是複數表達?
advice, jewelry, news可不可數?
water, hair, juice 可以加 s?
英文集合名詞大解析,一次告訴你!

collective nouns

中文裡面不強調單複數的概念,所以「集合名詞」就是大家在用英文時很容易搞錯的地方!先看看老師的講解:

【英文文法】簡單瞭解英文中的「集合名詞」 (Advanced English Grammar: Collective Nouns)
Screen Shot 2016-04-01 at 2.35.54 PM

小編也整理好了各種不同的例句來表達各種名詞不同的用法,讓你一次終止你的中式用法:

1. 表達「相同型態」的一群人- the police

這邊的名詞以「一群同樣性質的人」為單位,,一律保持單數 (singular) 的形式,不大可能看到該名詞以複數 (plural) 的形式出現。

audience 聽眾;觀眾;讀者

The audience was disappointed as the thunderstorm approached, and the outdoor stage play was forced to end abruptly.
觀眾因為突然下大雷雨、室外舞台劇突然結束而感到失望。

cabinet 內閣;內閣會議

After the election, the next president of the United States will organize his or her own cabinet.
選舉結束後,美國的下一任總統將組織他或她自己的內閣。

committee 委員會

The zoning committee has unanimously agreed that the public park will not be demolished to build a parking structure.
區域劃分委員會已一致決定不允許為了建造停車場而拆除公園。

crew 全體人員

The new regional manager of a large engineering firm is hiring new salesmen, technicians, and internal staff to build a new crew.
大工程公司的新區域經理將聘請新的業務、技術人員與內部人員,建立新的團體。

crowd 人群

The crowd gathered to watch the gymnastic performance in the park.
人群聚集在公園看體操運動員的表演。

faculty 師資

The faculty body is looking forward to a new semester after an extremely cold winter.
師資團隊在期待著酷寒冬天後的新學期。

family 家庭

The family is immigrating to a different country to build a better future.
那個家庭為了建立更好的未來,移民到不同的國家。

gang 幫派

The residents of a quiet suburb were disturbed by a teenagers’ gang that was driving fast and making loud noises all night.
安靜的郊區的居民因為青少年幫派的飆車、吵鬧整晚而感到不安。

government 政府

1984 is a novel by George Orwell that describes a dystopian world, in which everything is controlled by the government.
《一九八四》是喬治·奧威爾寫的小說,描述了一個一切都是由政府控制的反烏托邦世界。

group 集團

Among a large group, an individual’s ability to think critically and make rational decisions based on his or her own perspectives is often sabotaged.
在大型群體中,一個人批判性的思考能力與根據自我觀點來做決定的能力往往會被破壞。

jury 陪審團

The jury finally reached a verdict after days of debate.
爭論好幾天之後,陪審團終於作出裁決。

police 警察

The police came to ask the host of the party to turn down the music because his neighbors were not happy with the noise.
警察要求開趴的主人降低音樂的音量,因為他的鄰居們被吵到很不高興。

staff 工作人員

The boss was moved that his staff prepared a lovely surprise birthday party for him.
老闆因為員工為他準備了一個驚喜生日派對而感動。

team 團隊;隊伍;球隊

The basketball coach was enraged by the gossip column’s negative publicity regarding his team’s outrageous behavior.
籃球教練因為八卦專欄負面宣傳他球隊的粗暴行為而動怒。

2. 當團體量詞中的人需要被「區分」,並描述其中人的「個體性」- the audience

在上面列舉的各種團體量詞前後加上一些指稱「個體」的敘述,就可以讓句子聚焦在其中的一個或數個個體。看看下面的例子:

audience 聽眾;觀眾;讀者

After two encores, the dedicated fans in the audience were unwilling to leave, and their applause led the singer back on stage for one more song.
兩個安可後,在觀眾的忠實粉絲仍不願離開,而他們的掌聲讓歌星又回來舞台上、多唱了一首歌。

cabinet 內閣;內閣會議

John Kerry, Jacob Lew, and Loretta Lynch are cabinet members under President Obama.
約翰·凱瑞、路傑克、與洛麗泰·林奇是奧巴馬總統領導下的內閣成員。

committee 委員會

The diligent members of the housing rights committee host meetings every week to answer questions for both the tenants and landlords.
房務委員會辛勤的成員每星期都會舉辦會議,以回答房客與房東雙方的問題。

crew 船員

The captain treats everyone in his crew as his family, always putting their needs ahead of his own.
船長對待他的船員如家人,總是把他們的需要放在自我的前面。

crowd 人群

The ones wearing white t-shirts in the massive crowd of protesters showed their intention to protest in peace.
眾多示威者中,穿白色T恤的的人表明他們希望和平抗議的理念。

faculty 師資

The new members of the faculty have fallen in love with the faculty club that always serves delicious lunches and dinners.
新的師資成員已經愛上了總是提供美味午餐和晚餐的師資俱樂部 。

family 家庭

The elders in the family wish to help the younger members with their careers.
家裡的長輩希望能助晚輩事業一臂之力。

gang 幫派

The members of the gang all have tattoos on the back of their heads.
該幫派的成員都在後腦勺刺青。

government 政府

The three branches of the American government are executive, judicial, and legislative.
美國政府的三個分支是行政,司法和立法。

group團體

The three girls who were always the closest group in college maintains an intimate bond after graduation.
在大學中感情最好的三人幫畢業後仍然是一個親密的群體。

jury 陪審團

The majority of the jury members felt sorry for the defendant’s disadvantaged background, but a few of them remain unmoved by the sad story.
大多數陪審團成員對被告的弱勢背景感到同情,但其中一些人仍不為所動。

police 警察

Two handsome policemen helped the old lady who couldn’t find her way to the train station.
兩位帥哥警察替找不到火車站的老太太帶路。

staff 工作人員

Not until the staff members voiced their opinions did the boss realize that the company has many problems unsolved.
員工們表達了他們的意見後,老闆才意識到公司有許多待解的難題。

team 團隊;隊伍;球隊

The members of the team always respects and cares for each other.
隊員們總是尊重與照顧彼此。

3. 表達思想、資訊、或本來就一致是以群量形式表達事物的名詞- good advice

英文中有些名詞,一律是以單數的形式出現。參考一下以下例句:

advice 意見

Good advice is often unpleasant to hear.
忠言往往逆耳。

economics 經濟;經濟學

Economics is a subject that everyone should study in high school.
經濟學是一門大家在高中應學的課程。

evidence 證據

The lack of evidence made it impossible for the victim to press charges.
由於缺乏證據,受害者無法提出告訴。

information 消息;報導;情報資料

The revolution of digitalized information is reshaping the way we think, research, and communicate.
數字化資訊正在重新塑造我們思想、研究與溝通的模式。

jewelry 珠寶;首飾

Ever since she lost her favorite necklace, she locked up all her jewelry in a safe.
自從她失去了心愛的項鍊,她就把所有的首飾鎖在保險箱裡了。

knowledge 知識;學識;學問

Zhungzi once said that, it’s dangerous to pursue infinite knowledge within a finite life.
莊子曾說用有限的生命追求無限的知識是危險的。

luggage 行李

The tourists shopped so much that they were charged for their oversized luggage at the airport.
遊客買了好多東西,在機場只好支付行李過大的費用。

news 新聞;消息;報導

Nowadays, anyone who is still talking about others’ Facebook newsfeed from last week is as uninteresting as old news.
這年頭還在談論別人FB上週的消息就像是舊聞一樣無趣。

4. 運用表示部分的表分詞來區分群量詞中的數量、與不同的思想形式

相對的來看,表達事物的量詞當然也有需要被區分的時候,也就是最適合表量表達的表分詞 (partitive expressions) 出現的時候了!

advice 意見

People who are always giving tips of advice to others without being asked often judge others first, because they don’t want be judged.
有些人因為不想要被評論,就會常常先批判別人,在沒有人問的時候主動提供他人意見。

economics 經濟

The ups and downs of the current economic weathers across the globe do not look optimistic.
目前各國的經濟狀況起伏看起來都不樂觀。

evidence 證據

These two pieces of evidence were all it takes for the police to arrest the suspects.
兩項證據足以讓警方逮捕嫌犯。

information 消息;報導;情報資料

The information desk at the airport must provide all kinds of important information to respond to unusual enquiries.
機場詢問處必須提供重要資訊來回答各種奇怪的問題。

jewelry 珠寶;首飾

The prices of different jewelry sets at the exhibition ranged from a few hundred to a few million dollars.
在展場上不同的珠寶組合的價格從幾百到幾百萬美元都有。

knowledge 識;學識;學問

Infinite amount of knowledge in various fields is useless if people don’t learn how to apply it.
如果人們不學習如何運用,無限的各領域知識也無濟於事。

luggage 行李

Large and small pieces of luggage get lost or misplaced at the airport every day, but the airlines always try to get each piece back to its owner.
各種大小的行李每天都會在機場遺失,可是航空公司總是盡力去物歸原主。

news 新聞;消息;報導

Smartphones are delivering the latest news from various sources to everyone’s fingertips, and one of the latest news alerts is that it might soon be against the law to simultaneously walk and look at our phones.
智慧型手機讓大家讓各種管道提供的最新消息只有一鍵之隔,而最新的新聞之一就是,走路時看手機可能很快就會違法了。

【英文文法】可數與不可數名詞教學(2) Count and Noncount Nouns (Part 2)
Screen Shot 2016-04-12 at 9.20.13 PM

5. 當可以轉換成可數或不可數的名詞中,以不可數的形式呈現- drinking water

在可數名詞 (countable nouns) 與不可數名詞 (uncountable nouns) 中也有灰色地帶。有的名詞通常以單數的形式出現,可是在不同的狀況下,也可以變成複數來配合想要表達的意境。

food 食物;食品;糧食

I am a fan of Italian food.
我超愛吃義大利菜。

beer 啤酒

Beer is high in calories.
啤酒熱量很高。

coffee 咖啡

Moderate amount of coffee is good for the cardiovascular system.
適量的咖啡有利於心血管系統。

juice 果汁

Fresh orange juice is loaded with Vitamin C.
新鮮的柳橙汁含有大量的維他命C

soda 汽水

Soda contains a lot of sugar.
汽水中含有大量的糖。

water 水

Human beings cannot survive without fresh drinking water.
人類若沒有新鮮的飲用水便無法生存。

wine 酒;葡萄酒

The new wine club is beautiful, and the service is friendly. The ones who don’t drink wine also enjoy spending an evening there.
新的品酒俱樂部又美又有良好服務,即使不喝酒的人也喜歡去享受一個美好的夜晚。

hair 頭髮

Curly hair always comes back in fashion every few years.
捲髮總是每隔幾年又流行起來了。

paper 紙張

Paper was a rare commodity in ancient civilizations.
紙是古文明時代稀有的商品。

room 空間

Some of us took the stairs to the third floor because there wasn’t enough room in the elevator.
我們有些人用走的到三樓因為電梯沒有足夠空間了。

time 時間

Young people always assume time will forever be on their side, because it seems impossible to grow old.
年輕人總是認為時間站在他們那邊,因為他們好像永遠不會老。

space 空間

In ancient studies, ether, one of the five great elements, is the equivalent of the modern concept of space.
在古老文化的研究中,五大元素中的「蒼穹」是現代的「空間」概念。

6. 當相同的名詞以「可數的形式」呈現- two waters

當通常以「不可數名詞」的形態出現的名詞加上「表量分詞」,變得可被明確計算時,就理所當然地用「可數的方法」來表達。

foods 食物;食品;糧食

You can find many different kinds of foods in any shopping mall in Taiwan.
在台灣任何的商場中都可以找到許多不同種類的食物,

beers 啤酒

The two sisters had a few beers together on a Saturday night, and walked home together.
兩姐妹在一個週六的晚上一起喝了幾瓶啤酒,然後一起散步回家。

coffees 咖啡

The manager bought enough coffees and teas from Starbucks for the employees who were working late to meet the deadline.
經理替晚上還在趕死線的員工在星巴克買了足夠的咖啡與茶。

juices 果汁

The smoothie is made of fresh juices, nonfat yogurt, and honey.
冰沙中有不同的新鮮果汁、脫脂優格蜂蜜。

sodas 汽水

The teenager drinks six sodas a day, and his parents are concerned about his health.
他每天喝六罐汽水,讓父母替他的健康擔憂。

waters 水(杯裝或罐裝)

The waiter brought two waters to the table with only one customer by mistake, and she asked him to leave her with both.
服務員端錯了兩杯水到一位客人的桌上,而她請他把兩杯都放下。

hairs 頭髮(一絲一絲的)

The customer who found two hairs in his spaghetti sent the dish back, and did not feel comfortable to order anything else.
在意大利麵條發現兩根頭髮的客人把菜退回了,也絲毫不想再點餐了。

papers 論文;報告

During the last week of the semester, many students had multiple papers due on the same day, and no one cared about the scary headlines on the newspapers.
在學期最後一周,很多學生在同一天要交多篇論文,便沒有人關心報上嚇人的頭條了。

rooms 房間

The hotel didn’t have three separate rooms available, so the three friends shared one a large suite.
旅館沒有三間空房,所以三個朋友一起住一間大套房。

times 次

The children told each other the same jokes many times, but they never stopped laughing.
小朋友們互相講了許多次一模一樣的笑話,可是他們每次都會笑。

space 空間;間隔

The arrangement of living spaces is a modern art that many wish to master.
生活空間的安排是許多人希望掌握的一門現代藝術。

 

*補充*
至於動物也可以用很多種不同的量詞來形容,可以參考這篇文章:
An embarrassment of pandas = 一隻尷尬的熊貓?超有趣動物「群量詞」整理!

迫不及待想馬上開始練習嗎?

快打開 VoiceTube App 練英文!

立即下載 >>> https://bit.ly/myenglishissogood

英文單字不要硬背! 藉由 VoiceTube App 看影片,不會的單字反覆聆聽,加上單字測驗練習,聽寫齊下,立刻熟記!

文/王傳瑄
圖/shpoksCC Licensed
作者簡介/VoiceTube看影片學英語

學英文不是艱難的任務,而是一種融入生活的自然態度,今天起,丟掉厚重的教科書,每日鎖定VoiceTube看影片學英語官方部落格,給自己一個流利『用』英語的機會!