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"For educational purpose" or "for educational purposes"?

English Language & Usage Asked on December 29, 2021

When I was writing this:

The university is for educational purpose.

everything was fine. But when I wrote this:

The universities are for educational purpose.

The Grammarly said it’s a mistake and "purpose" should be replaced by "purposes", but I don’t understand. Does it have something to do with "universities"?

Thanks for your time.

One Answer

If you use the singular, you should use an article:

  • The university is for an educational purpose.
  • The universities are for an educational purpose.

If you don't use an article, you should use the plural:

  • The university is for educational purposes.
  • The universities are for educational purposes.

Which of those four variations you use is a matter of context and personal opinion—although the plural noun is probably the more common use.

But a singular count noun requires an article or some kind of pronoun in front of it. (It's possible to interpret purpose here as a mass noun, but it would be somewhat unusual.)

Answered by Jason Bassford on December 29, 2021

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