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Mass Nouns

For each plural below, give the corresponding noun for a mass of those objects considered collectively. To help you get started, three examples are given.
Not all of these are precisely analogous to one another.
Correct spelling required.
Quiz by ThirdParty
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Last updated: December 7, 2019
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First submittedMay 13, 2013
Times taken23,708
Average score41.7%
Rating3.16
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Individuals
Collective
persons
people
cows
cattle
signs
signage
images
imagery
clothes
clothing
statues
statuary
machines
machinery
houses
housing
weapons
weaponry
wharves
wharfage
shelves
shelving
baskets
basketry
humans
mankind
Individuals
Collective
ancestors
ancestry
ornaments
ornamentation
myths
mythology
citizens
citizenry
bureaucrats
bureaucracy
officials
officialdom
nobles
nobility
clerics
clergy
bishops
episcopate
judges
judiciary
clients
clientele
poems
poetry
psalms
psalmody
Individuals
Collective
periods, commas, etc.
punctuation
necklaces, rings, etc.
jewelry
coins, bills, etc.
money
chickens, ducks, etc.
poultry
caramels, toffees, etc.
candy
socks, stockings, etc.
hosiery
boxer shorts, bras, etc.
underwear
factories, mines, etc.
industry
rodents, flies, etc.
vermin
leaves
foliage
mounted soldiers
cavalry
metal eating utensils
silverware
knives, forks, etc.
cutlery
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91 Comments
yankeh
+2
Level 60
Jul 27, 2013
some more potentially acceptable answers: vermin = fauna; foliage = flora; officials = office; psalmody = psalter; poultry = fowl.
ThirdParty
+3
Level 45
Jul 27, 2013
Okay, I've added "fowl".
ThirdParty
+1
Level 45
Jul 27, 2013
"flora" refers to whole plants, not to pieces of plants. "psalter" and "office" refer to the places where you find psalms and officials, respectively, not to the psalms and officials themselves.
ThirdParty
+1
Level 45
Jul 27, 2013
It's true that rodents and flies are fauna, but they also belong to the far more specific category of vermin, so I've chosen not to accept "fauna" as an alternative.
JackBauer
+9
Level 61
Dec 25, 2015
what about pests for rodents and vermin?
IsleAuHaulte
+3
Level 90
Nov 26, 2018
^^That was my first pick.
ander217
+2
Level 74
Dec 5, 2018
Mine, too. Pest is listed as a synonym for vermin.
kalbahamut
+5
Level 81
Nov 14, 2019
Pests is a plural noun but not a "mass" noun
sleekcollins
+1
Level 68
Sep 23, 2016
Both fauna and flora are too vague to be acceptable answers.
nettybet
+1
Level 76
Jul 27, 2013
Only got 19 - found this quite tough for some reason.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 81
Aug 4, 2013
I got 33. seemed easy to me for some reason.
McLerristarr
+7
Level 62
Dec 24, 2015
It's because you're so smart.
kalbahamut
+8
Level 81
Dec 25, 2015
That could be it.
098
+5
Level 31
Jul 27, 2013
You need to have a few more acceptable answers. For example, sweets for candy. I would never call it candy. I'm not totally sure how I even got it. How about herd for cows as well? I liked the quiz, I just think it's quite strict answer-wise.
ThirdParty
+6
Level 45
Jul 27, 2013
"sweets" is a plural noun, not a mass noun. "herd" refers to a particular configuration of cattle, not to any old mass of cattle.
NekroNeko
+1
Level 26
Jul 27, 2013
I don't know, I like all kinds of sweets, such as chocolate, boiled sweets, bonbons, candy floss and so on and such.
ander217
+2
Level 74
Dec 25, 2015
I think it's a difference between American English and British English. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.) What we call candy, they call sweets..
Janjan
+2
Level 67
Dec 27, 2015
I agree. In the UK we don't really use the word 'candy', whereas sweets is a general term for any type of confection. (Happy memories of visiting the sweet shop as a child!) I tried sweets first but then tried candy, knowing that this site tends to favour US English.
ranelda
+1
Level 26
Dec 28, 2015
That depends on whether you only accept US English. For us Brits, sweets would be the preferred form.
Wilbur
+3
Level 45
Apr 28, 2016
Does it accept confectionary? I got candy but agree I would never use the word myself to talk about sweets.
grantdon
+3
Level 74
Feb 25, 2017
Glad you accepted "confectionery"...More likely to hear "lollies" than sweets or candy here
CardinalSin
+1
Level 79
Jan 27, 2019
But candy in English is a specific type of sweet and therefore not an acceptable answer at all. Only in American does it refer to sweets as a whole.
ander217
+1
Level 74
Jan 29, 2019
There are herds of many kinds of animals. Cattle is specific to cows, however in many of the Regency romance novels I read, the dashing, rich noblemen of the early 1800s often referred to their horses as their cattle, so apparently it wasn't always specific to cows. (I'm assuming that's no longer the case in Britain.)
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Apr 10, 2020
Yes what the USA calls candy the UK calls sweets, but sweets is not a mass noun as it is countable. Confectionery is a mass noun, but I read that is already being accepted.
DiscoBayGolfer
+1
Level 78
Jul 27, 2013
Good Job. Interesting and tougher than I would have expected. Only got 17. I too entered fowl prior to poultry.
rgc1600
+2
Level 73
Jul 27, 2013
Fowl should definitely be acceptable for ducks and chickens. Psalter should be accepted for psalms. And I think bishopry is appropriate for bishop.
ThirdParty
+1
Level 45
Jul 27, 2013
I can't find "bishopry" in any of my favorite dictionaries.
twained
+2
Level 61
Dec 24, 2015
I'm familiar with the word "bishopry." And while I don't wish to malign your favorite dictionaries, it took me less than two minutes online to find several uses of the word from texts more than a century old.
samiamco
+2
Level 69
Oct 2, 2016
Bishopric is definitely not right, as a) it refers to the area under a bishop's authority, like a diocese, and b) it's not only NOT a mass noun, it's not even a plural noun. It's a singular noun – you can talk about multiple bishoprics.
ander217
+2
Level 74
Dec 5, 2018
I'm familiar with bishopry and found it in several dictionaries. However, it simply means the office of a bishop, and doesn't seem to be a mass noun.
policraticus
+1
Level 63
Jul 27, 2013
Episcopacy. Psalter.
ThirdParty
+1
Level 45
Jul 27, 2013
Okay, I've added "episcopacy".
buck1017
+2
Level 78
Jul 27, 2013
Lots of room for argument in this quiz, but overall I liked it.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Apr 10, 2020
Main arguments are from people that do not really get what a mass noun is though.

(or have forgotten that is what the quiz was asking for, like how you start out answering countries on a quiz, but end up giving capitals and not getting why it doesn't work. Usually though, by the time you write your complaint, you should have figured out the subject of the quiz)

Wolfy
+1
Level 16
Jul 29, 2013
Nice quiz, it really makes you think.
xway
+1
Level 13
Jul 31, 2013
I just for some reason could not work out how to spell bureacracy or clientele. I like the quiz, though.
TheCrusher
+2
Level 71
Mar 15, 2018
Still can't work out "bureaucracy", apparently.
nixieknox
+2
Level 48
Jul 31, 2013
How about kine for cows?
ThirdParty
+1
Level 45
Jul 31, 2013
Okay.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
Aug 4, 2013
Never heard of "officialdom" but... seems like there are lots and lots of other potential answers that could go there, many of which I tried and were not accepted. Fun quiz, though.
burntfrost
+1
Level 48
Apr 21, 2014
I got wharfage!
Arp2600
+2
Level 87
May 8, 2014
Strange quiz, I didn't really understand what you were asking for, and since the average is only 16, I'm probably not the only one... of course, now that I see the answers, it seems rather simple and I kick myself.
sillie
+1
Level 76
May 31, 2014
Nice original quiz. Ornaments are really just knick knacks or kitschy trash though :)
AlexanderTheLarge
+1
Level 61
Jun 14, 2014
Pestilence should be acceptable for vermin.
ThirdParty
+3
Level 45
Jun 14, 2014
"Pestilence" tends to refer more to diseases than to rats.
Tomtrific
+1
Level 83
Nov 14, 2019
How about pests for vermin? Pests could be a lot of things, like your neighbors, for example. But it wouldn't be wrong to say that rats and flies are pests.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Apr 10, 2020
But it would be wrong to call it a mass noun, you can have one pest two pest, multiple pests. Like a ratpest on top of a neighbourpest ;)
caribdevist
+1
Level 61
Dec 24, 2015
Missed 3. I can live with that.
pksairish
+5
Level 67
Dec 24, 2015
what about confectionery for sweets?
samiamco
+1
Level 69
Oct 2, 2016
You actually have a very good point, and I second it!
EcceHomo
+1
Level 82
Jan 22, 2024
me too
erikj
+1
Level 66
Dec 24, 2015
I tried population for citizens. Never heard of citizenry. But I guess you learn something new everyday...
zaba2048
+3
Level 72
Dec 24, 2015
Footwear for socks and stockings?

And shouldn't cutlery work for both of the last two?- they're basically the same.

Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Apr 10, 2020
Since there are no shoes or boots etc given as example I am not sure it completely covers it, thought there is a big overlap and I tried it too, since apparently I didnt know how to spell hosiery, I tried hosery and hoisery.. (things you hoist up ;) )

(though I have never heard anyone say it and actually can't remember when or where I have seen it written down, must have atleast once seen it somewhere, the odds are to big to make it up randomly ;) But am fine with not getting it, English is not my language and like I said haven't really come across it ( maybe it is this site I have seen it before?)

pamu
+3
Level 49
Dec 24, 2015
flatware?
SukiKabuki
+1
Level 92
Dec 24, 2015
Great quiz! It was super challenging but really fun :)
britinaus
+1
Level 86
Dec 24, 2015
Could you please accept sweets for candy? In the UK, candy is something very specific (basically just sugar), whereas what you have listed would be called sweets.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Apr 10, 2020
Not a mass noun, so you would have to put your american thinking cap on. Or try confectionery
JeremyX
+1
Level 65
Dec 24, 2015
Quick trick: (All) / (All of) / (All the) / (The entire) ____, or with different similar starts, (no plural) must refer to every unit of the individual thing. If it is only every unit within a limited scope, that limited scope should be inherited from the original thing, not implied separately by the collective term.

e.g. 1: 'All cattle', not 'all herd'; 'herd' implies a limited spatial proximity that cows don't inherently have

e.g. 2: 'The entire citizenry'; while this refers only to citizens of a particular thing (which may be the universe anyway), the term 'citizen' implied that it was of a particular thing, so this is fine.

e.g. 3: 'The entire ancestry'; this lacks information on scope - whose ancestors? But that information is lacking when not provided in the original term 'ancestor' as well: 'The ancestor'. One could alternatively speak of 'my ancestor' or 'my entire ancestry'.

Other than this requirement, try to keep scope small to avoid being vaguer than the quiz intended

ander217
+1
Level 74
Dec 25, 2015
Additional collective nouns for bishop include bench, sea, and psalter. Great quiz. Learned some new things.
ander217
+2
Level 74
Dec 5, 2018
Lol, I meant see, not sea. Surprised my family member on here didn't see that and rip me a good one.
wetblanket1
+2
Level 72
Dec 28, 2015
Accept flatware for silverware?
artemis05
+1
Level 74
Dec 29, 2015
I kept trying "armory" instead of "weaponry".

Luckily I figured it out at the last second.

kinjapan
+2
Level 72
Jan 6, 2016
Cool quiz! I spent way too much time trying to figure out what kind of utensils eat metal, but that's just me.
kelly94942
+2
Level 44
Feb 15, 2016
I also would appreciate if you accepted flatware in addition to silverware - silverware is a specific type of flatware (made of silver).
OfTheMountain
+2
Level 62
Jul 27, 2016
Pests seems like a good fit for the rats, flies question as well. Also I kept trying to spell cavalry as calvary. Oops
InterAlia
+1
Level 76
Nov 14, 2019
Pests is not a mass noun
tolerated
+1
Level 80
Sep 14, 2016
I do think candy is not a term used in UK, and I would have thought confectionery would be an entirely acceptable alternative.
kiwiquizman
+2
Level 42
Mar 1, 2017
Can you accept lollies for candy?
InterAlia
+1
Level 76
Nov 14, 2019
Not a mass noun
Ru21
+1
Level 42
Apr 14, 2017
you should also accept "utensils" for "forks, knives, etc."
InterAlia
+1
Level 76
Nov 14, 2019
Not a mass noun
ignorred
+1
Level 66
Aug 22, 2017
Good quiz! Greatly varying levels of difficulty. Episcopate is really hard unless you know your stuff about churches.
kenpo17
+1
Level 66
Nov 17, 2017
Cool idea, but you shouldn't be so strict about allowing different words that mean basically the same thing, like herd for cows, pests for vermin, etc. It basically turns this into a game of "what word am I thinking of?"
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Dec 27, 2019
Of a mass noun.
ScottDozenNo
+1
Level 56
Dec 7, 2017
Among the most poorly conceived quizzes on the site, imo.
SundarIsaacs
+1
Level 59
Jan 1, 2018
I beg to differ, though for a moment I was wondering what utensils eat metal!!
ericsp23
+1
Level 96
Dec 28, 2019
Agreed.

The answers don't consistently meet the criteria set out by the quiz description, and in many cases there are several legitimate answers that are not accepted.

hpqu1zz3r
+2
Level 46
Feb 3, 2018
could you accept sweets instead of candy? I'm in the UK and whilst candy isn't unheard of we more commonly would refer to them as sweets
Rhubarb
+2
Level 30
Jun 27, 2018
Please allow 'sweets' for 'candy'. Not all of us are American.
EcceHomo
+1
Level 82
Jan 22, 2024
But we are aware of the word, Rhubarb. It's hardly unfair.
cornflakesfu
+1
Level 87
Jul 4, 2018
Aww, I was really hoping the one for psalms would be "psalmistry."
Pharley
+1
Level 74
Jul 21, 2018
what are knives, forks etc if not metal eating utensils?
NQChien
+2
Level 66
Aug 27, 2018
How about leaves -> canopy?
supermusic
+1
Level 69
Dec 5, 2018
I understand not accepting "utensils" for fork/knife/etc., because a utensil is technically any kind of tool. But what about flatware?
MikesBrain
+1
Level 78
May 29, 2019
Suggest accepting 'sweets' for caramels, toffees, etc as candy is only US.

Also 'wardrobe' for clothes.

Sifhraven
+2
Level 72
Dec 27, 2019
Got 26 :) not bad after just waking up after hardly any sleep. And english not being my mother-tongue.

I'm sure this will prompt immature hatefull comments... But I am just proud, that being so ill I still managed to do rather well. (Atleast sómething is well...)

Kahikatea
+1
Level 76
Apr 10, 2020
Silverware isn't really appropriate for metal eating utensils, because most metal eating utensils are not silver
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 70
Apr 10, 2020
Interesting quiz. I missed cutlery cuz I was going to do it but then I got silverware and I didn't realize there were 2 separate ones. Guess I got both the first time I took it though
johanna9
+1
Level 43
Apr 3, 2021
Very confused by the supposed difference between "metal eating utensils" and "knives, forks, etc."

Also I put ornamentation but my swipe keyboard didn't recognise it :( (oh of course it does now, typical haha)

ahertzy
+1
Level 79
May 21, 2023
how about flatware as acceptable?

Great quiz!

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