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Singular and plural nouns in one sentence

English Language & Usage Asked on January 10, 2021

"They qualify for government-supported medical treatment and disability payments."

In the sentence above, why is the word "treatment" used as a singular noun, and "payments" as a plural noun? I guess there could be several different forms of disability payments, so using -s after payment seems ok, but why not treatment"s"?

Can’t there also be many different kinds of medical treatments that the government supports?
Or is the word treatment mostly used as an uncountable noun?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

One Answer

The word "treatment" is used in its uncountable aspect because the writer is concerned with treatment in general in this particular sentence; of course, it is quite possible that several sorts of treatment are available and if the discussion comes to the point of giving information about a given one, then the indefinite article "a/an" can still be used and you can also speak of that particular treatment as treatment in general. In the case of the plural of "payment" I think that there is no question at all of a variety of payments but simply a reference to the fact that payment is made on the basis of eligibility and therefore must be monthly or weekly, which entails that each small monthly or weekly allowance is a payment, thereby, speaking of all of them together, the need to use a plural.

Correct answer by LPH on January 10, 2021

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