Monday, September 18, 2017

grammaticality - a software -- can "software" be used as a count noun?


Example:



Some people like to do this using a dedicated diagramming software, like Microsoft Visio.




A friend of mine, who is a native English speaker, says that this sentence doesn't sound weird to him at all. But isn't it true that the word software is inherently a mass noun, so no articles are possbile or is he right that software can be used as a count noun to mean something like program and application? I actually have never seen software used as a count noun like that. I always thought that this word was a mass noun and could not be anything else. What do you guys think?



Answer



My experience has always been that software is an uncountable or mass noun.


I would phrase your sentence as Some people like to do this using dedicated diagramming software.


The usual "unit of measurement" for software is piece. I need a piece of software for diagramming means I need a diagramming application. This seems to be by analogy with silverware and other similar words.


No comments:

Post a Comment

Simple past, Present perfect Past perfect

Can you tell me which form of the following sentences is the correct one please? Imagine two friends discussing the gym... I was in a good s...