Training or trainings?

Posted by Pak Guru 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!

4 responses to “Training or trainings?”

1. Arik says:

   March 27, 2019 at 2:01 am

   Hi Pak Guru! I’m wondering if you could explain the difference between the countable and uncountable of the word “description”. Thank you.

   Reply
   • Pak Guru says:

     March 27, 2019 at 2:17 am

     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!

     Reply
     • Arik says:

       March 27, 2019 at 8:06 am

       Thank you, Pak Guru! I hope that I can understand it. 🙂

       Reply
       • Pak Guru says:

         March 28, 2019 at 1:53 pm

         A present for you: https://gurueap.com/2019/03/28/descriptions/

         Reply