Training or trainings?
Posted by pakguru on March 23rd, 2019 | 4 responses | countable uncountable, IELTS, speaking, vocabulary, writing
This problem can be overcome through government policies that improve access to education and trainings.
This is one of the rare occasions when low-band Indonesian IELTS candidates add ‘s’ to a word!
Admittedly you will occasionally see training as a countable noun, but the uncountable form is far more common. Think of training (uncountable) as a synonym for education (aslo uncountable).
A convenient way to compare the frequency of word forms in written text is to make an Ngram:
Click here for an interactive version of the above Ngram comparing training and trainings!
Hi Pak Guru! I’m wondering if you could explain the difference between the countable and uncountable of the word “description”. Thank you.
Thanks for the question, Arik! Well, description (uncountable) is the act of describing, while description (countable) is the product of describing. So we can say that “Most academic writing involves description and argument.” (both acts). Meanwhile we can also say that “Descriptions of UFOs suggest that they are shaped like saucers.” (these descriptions are products of the act of describing).
Hope that makes sense!
Thank you, Pak Guru! I hope that I can understand it. 🙂
A present for you: https://gurueap.com/2019/03/28/descriptions/