Disagree - IT IS a problem with W2003 grammar. And I still say
software is a term that needs to be plural not singular. Or both.
It is not a matter for "disagreement." It is a matter of the way the
English language is spoken. You do not get to decide to change
English.
I am not saying to change English - I am not interested in that. The
purpose of this discussion is that I think "software" can be both
singular or plural in meaning. The purpose of this posting is not
about usage of English, but about Word 2003 grammar. You can take a
look at the thread subject before you post any more of your answers or
please dont answer at all.
Specifically I am saying that both these sentences with the word
"software" are NOT getting flagged as errors in W2003 grammar
This Software pieces is great
These pieces of Software is great
It is blindly taking "software" as singular even though I have
qualified it with "pieces". So it IS something to do with W2003
grammar with the word "software"
To prove this type this in w 2003
"There are other softwares for doing this."
"Softwares" term is flagged as error - right click - you will find
"software" as an option. Select that and it now complains about the
"are".
Have you bothered to look in your English grammar book for the concept
"mass noun"? How is it possible that you studied English as a Second
Language and were never taught about mass nouns vs. count nouns?
Regarding those two errors, the computer is absolutely correct.
I have to say that you seem to be getting irritable with this thread
because you are indulging on a direct personal attack rather than
being an objective contributor. If this thread irritates you, then why
you are posting at all? Let others reply if at all they do.
Bottom line: Both the words "download" and "software" needs fixing in
Grammar in W2003
Grammar checkers don't operate on words. They operate on grammar.
Yeah so? What I meant is that the grammar implementation in W2003 that
involves these words are not perfect in my opinion.
You had not previously brought up the word "download," and I most
definitely do not want to know what your problem with it is.
Who said I wanted *you* to know what my problem is - This is a public
thread where others can read and understand about W2003 grammar
issues. I am not asking *you* in particular about any problem with the
word "download" in W2003 grammar.
If you really wanted to say that "software" is a mass or uncountable
noun you could have given an authoritative link like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_noun
I am not interested in *YOUR* opinion about English grammar or whether
Word 2003 grammar is correct or not, as you yourself may have English
as second language.