"Gear" or "gears" ?

[glassoholic]

I say "The gear I use is m43" but others say "The gears I use is m43". I dont think "gears" can ever be used regardless of the context or reference to gear... or is that gears?

 

[RedDog Steve]

I say "The gear I use is m43" but others say "The gears I use is m43". I dont think "gears" can ever be used regardless of the context or reference to gear... or is that gears?

"Gears" are used in transmissions and rear differentials.

The uncountable plural form of gear is gear.

ESL ?

--
I'm not a perfectionist, I'm a precisionist.
rd

 

[apathyman]

Gear.

But if we're going to be pedantic (and why not?), the second option should be "The gears I use are m43". But that's wrong, anyway

Cheers

 

[NCV]

The plural of gear is gear when talking about equipment such as "camera gear"

A good dictionary is your friend here.

--
http://nigelvoak.blogspot.it/
https://momenti-indecisivi.blogspot.it/

 

[Lichtspiel]

Shiftin' mah gears.

 

[gary0319]

I say "The gear I use is m43" but others say "The gears I use is m43". I dont think "gears" can ever be used regardless of the context or reference to gear... or is that gears?

I agree. Gears refer to mechanical parts, like in transmissions or clocks. Gear, singular or plural, refers to equipment for a purpose, like camping gear or m4/3 camera gear.

I suspect that some of the improper usage of the word gears is attributable to forum members that do not use English as their primary language.

 

[nzmacro]

[No message]

 

[AshleyMC]

Yes.

Both are used in different contexts. When speaking of camera equipment, "gear" is used.

gear (noun)

• (often in plural, gears) A toothed wheel that works with others to alter the relation between the speed of a driving mechanism (such as the engine of a vehicle) and the speed of the driven parts (the wheels) - e.g. a racing bike with ten-speed gears
  See also: cogwheel, clutch, transmission, differential
  
• (mass noun, usually with modifier) Equipment or apparatus that is used for a particular purpose - e.g. camping gear, photographic gear

 

[thebigA]

I doubt we must all be very boooooored today!

 

[Kiwisnap]

Gears are only found in machinery.

In this context it is gear.

 

[Kiwisnap]

I doubt we must all be very boooooored today!

If you doubt it, you mean - presumably - that we are not very bored today?

 

[pannumon]

I say "The gear I use is m43" but others say "The gears I use is m43". I dont think "gears" can ever be used regardless of the context or reference to gear... or is that gears?

I agree. Gears refer to mechanical parts, like in transmissions or clocks. Gear, singular or plural, refers to equipment for a purpose, like camping gear or m4/3 camera gear.

I suspect that some of the improper usage of the word gears is attributable to forum members that do not use English as their primary language.

I think this is one of those things that are probably more obvious for those who have learned English as a secondary or tertiary language, rather than primary language.

It comes very early in the education that plural is not used for things that are not countable: Water, milk, sugar, camera gear.

Most of the the grammatical error examples on Grammarly ad on YouTube are those that only native English speakers would make (Your - You're etc.). Then there are probably a lot of basic errors I make all the time, that none of the native English speakers would ever do.

Feel free to correct my language on this message.

 

[Alan Kett]

Spot on! Toddlers just learning language think the rule for spoken English is, "Add an 's' to the end of a word to make it plural." It works most of the time so they generalize: "cups" is plural of "cup", "drinks" is the plural of "drink". Hence, the plural of "sheep" must be "sheeps".

Learning and speaking a second language is hard (for me!) and it's not surprising that folks who are non-native English speakers/writers would struggle with the irregular exceptions. Heck, I remember dealing with those darn irregular verbs in French!

Alan

 

[pannumon]

Spot on! Toddlers just learning language think the rule for spoken English is, "Add an 's' to the end of a word to make it plural." It works most of the time so they generalize: "cups" is plural of "cup", "drinks" is the plural of "drink". Hence, the plural of "sheep" must be "sheeps".

Learning and speaking a second language is hard (for me!) and it's not surprising that folks who are non-native English speakers/writers would struggle with the irregular exceptions. Heck, I remember dealing with those darn irregular verbs in French!

Yes, except that gear is not irregular, whereas sheep is.

 

[HDB3]

Oh, great, now I have a mental picture of a flock of irregular sheep. Yuck.

 

[David Kieltyka]

"Gear" is technically the correct plural, as in "check out all my gear!" "Gears" is often used by folks whose native language uses a more obvious plural in the same situation. (English is in some respects an inconsistent and arbitrary language.) But…the purpose of language is to communicate, not to adhere to a set of rules no matter what. "Gears" works, and is likely to become more common as English spreads as a near-universal second language. Languages are always in flux.

-Dave-

 

[rurikw]

I doubt we must all be very boooooored today!

If you doubt it, you mean - presumably - that we are not very bored today?

He means he doubts we must be very bored and could as well be unbored so why have we chosen to be bored?

 

[rurikw]

I have sort of given up on gears. A younger one is 'few' instead of 'a few' as in 'few pics from X'. Still have to get used to that. Somehow I doubt either is the kind of error a non-native English speaker would typically make.

 

[GrahamB52]

Well I have lots of gears and do lots of stuffs with it, or should I say them........ no, no, no.

 

[Forgottenbutnotgone]

Taking note of your signature:

"Birds and BIF's https://www.flickr.com/photos/124733969@N06/sets/
Need for speed https://www.flickr.com/photos/130646821@N03/albums"

Regarding "BIF's", I thought the apostrophe followed by the "s" showed ownership. What do the birds in flight actually own? (other than apparently laser guided poop)

If the "s" is to signify plurality, are we actually talking about birds in many flights and if so, do they all take off from separate gates? Do they have different fight numbers, and are meals included on the filghts, or just those salty peanuts? (and of course the aforementioned, deadly accurate poop, with a penchant for freshly washed cars and open sunroofs).

Should it be instead merely BIF, as the word "birds" is already plural in the abbreviation? Should we actually be saying "photos of BIF"?

If we can accept that, (and we all have for as long as I've been a member here) "gears" for gear is certainly forgivable, especially when I'd imagine that most who say gears are those who speak English as a second, third or fourth language.

Robert