context, context, context.
clothing, labor, expert, sock, price,demand,cost, clothes, money, holiday
context, context, context.
Socks are always countable, aren't they? Hopefully by twos.
From: Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Oxford dictionaries.
Use clothing to talk about a particular type of clothes or when talking about making or selling clothes
Special protective clothing is worn.
a clothing manufacturer
!! This word is not used much in ordinary spoken language
I went shopping for summer clothes (NOT clothing).
In formal English, you can use a piece/item/article of clothing to refer to one thing you wear:
a discarded article of clothing
I enjoy shopping for new clothes.
What sort of clothes was he wearing?
clothes are things that you wear, for example shirts and dresses
I need some new clothes.
Do you ever wear your sister's clothes?
!! clothes is always plural and has no singular form
He was wearing nice clothes (NOT a nice clothe/clothes).
[U] Cloth is the material that clothes are made from
a suit made from fine woollen cloth
[C] a piece of cloth used for a particular purpose
She mopped her face with a wet cloth.
Is there a clean cloth for the table?
Don't spend all your money on the first day of your holiday!
Could you lend me some money?
Teaching can be very rewarding, but there's no money in it.
monies, moneys [plural]
If we are no longer able to provide the holiday you booked, we will return to you all monies paid.
LABOR/ LABOUR (BrE) [U]
a shortage of skilled labor
Wages for unskilled labour are very low.
small commercial farmers who depend on a casual labour supply
These countries are a source of cheap labour.
somebody's labours (formal) - a period of hard work
After several hours gardening we sat down to admire the results of our labours.
He's a world expert on marine mammals.
Tests should be administered by a medical expert.
He cast his expert eye on the gardener's work (here expert is an adjective, NOT experts).
I've lost my sock.
a pair of socks
white ankle socks
If they want promotion, United have got to pull their socks up (to make an effort to improve your behaviour or your work).
PRICE [C, U]
People are prepared to pay high prices for designer clothes.
The price of fuel keeps going up.
Tesco is selling two bottles of champagne for the price of one!
I bought these jeans at half price in the sale.
He's never at home, but that's the price of success. [singular]
!! Use price to mean the amount of money that you must pay for something in a place such as a shop or restaurant
We are cutting all our prices (NOT costs) by 50% for one day only!
We were shocked by the price of a cup of coffee in London.
COST [C, U]
The funds will just cover the museum's running costs.
A cassette/radio is included at no extra cost.
reduce/cut costs [plural]
court costs [plural]
He's determined to win, whatever the cost (=no matter how much work, money, risk etc is needed).
We must avoid a scandal at all costs (=whatever happens).
His uncle's a car dealer and let him buy the car at cost (=without making a profit). [singular] especially AmE
!! Use cost to talk about paying for services and activities, rather than objects
The total cost of the trip was under $500.
I worked out the cost of the repairs.
Your costs are the amount of money you have to spend in order to run a business or to do a particular activity
The shop was not making enough money to cover its costs.
Production is still increasing faster than demand.
There is a huge demand for new cars.
demonstrations in support of the nationalists' demands
their demand for higher salaries
the demands of modern life
The curriculum makes great demands on the teacher.
There areheavy demands on people's time these days.
HOLIDAY [uncountable and countable] BrE also holidays
The school holidays start tomorrow.
I'm away on holiday until the 1st of June.
Won't your business suffer if you take a holiday?
go on holiday also go on your holidays
British English speakers say holiday, not 'holidays' in the structures be on holiday, go on holiday and return/come back from holiday
something to read when you are on holiday (NOT when you are on holidays)
When you come back from holiday, it's hard to work (NOT When you come back from holidays).
Holidays is usually used after the, my, your etc.
Soon it will be the holidays.
Where do you want to go for your holidays?
!! Do not say 'be in (your) holidays' or 'go in (your) holidays'. Say go on holiday or go on your holidays or be on holiday or be on your holidays.
!! Do not say 'make a holiday'. Say have a holiday
Last edited by nyota; 05-Mar-2011 at 11:52.
Nyota, can you give the reference when quoting things, please. Thanks a lot. Also, this looks a bit like a homework question.
Thanks a lot.