five cattle, two hundred sheep, a lot of trout (鱒魚), three Swiss, six Japanese, lots of Chinese
有些名詞只有復數形式,如：
Eery means has been tried.
Mathematics is her strong point.
The remains of the deer were eaten up.
----“The couple are both lazybones.”
----“No,only the husband is (a lazybones).”
2.有些名詞在習慣用語中用單數,如：
She went home on foot.(步行,不是只有壹條腿。)
I turned a deaf ear to him.(不理睬,不是壹只耳朵聾了。)
They lost heart.(喪失信心)
以上三例為習語,下面三例則為全稱單數(generic singular),即以單數代全稱：
Man is mortal. (人皆有死.)
The student should always be attentive.
The pen is mightier than the sword.
有些名詞的用法則習慣上用復數,如：
armed to the teeth (武裝到牙齒)
shake hands with (握手)
make friends with
by leaps and bounds (突飛猛進)
以上四例與邏輯有關：很難想象只有壹個牙齒,而握手和交朋友都是雙方的事,蹦跳起來也不可能只有壹步。下面幾例則與婚喪喜慶有關：
My hearty congratulations! (衷心祝賀)
My best regards to her! (問好,致意)
Many happy returns of the day!(祝賀生日用語)
To express one’s condolences to (吊唁)
3．值得我們註意的是,壹個詞用單數或用復數往往表示意義的不同。原因可能是純屬習慣,或者含有特殊的意義,或者是專門說法,或者出於修辭考慮,如：
The border between China and the Sovoiet Union.(中蘇邊境分界線)
The borders of China and the Soviet Union (中蘇邊境)
The cups of water –China waters (中國沿海)
Iron is useful than gold.--- The prisoner was in irons.(帶上鐐銬)
Copper is a very important metal.。----She found some copper over there.(銅幣)
----Look at the copper over there.(俚語：警察,因制服上銅扣得名,復數為coppers,簡稱cop(s)
Her bad tooth caused her much pain.(很痛) ----She took great pains in studying Greek.(下苦功)
She has white hair.(壹頭白發)----She has white hairs.(幾絲白發)
The Chinese and American peoples.(中美兩國人民)----The Chinese and American people. (中美人民。尼克松於1972年在周總理舉行的國宴上的祝酒詞就用our two people,the Chinese and American people,甚至all people in the world,以表示親切友好。)
4．我們尤其要註意的是,形式上是單數而意義上是復數,或形式上是復數而意義上是單數的情況,如：
The class elect him monitor.(側重班上的每壹個人,故比用elects 好) ----Our class is represented by him.(側重整體)
Another ten years was wasted.(“十年“是壹個計算單位)
All my family are early rises.(指家人)
There is a book and two pens on the desk. ----There are two pens and a book on the desk.(習慣上,如最靠近動詞的名詞是復數,則動詞用復數；如名詞是單數,則動詞也相應用單數)
His brothers or he is to come.----He or his brothers are to come