Bare plural noun pattern

The bare plural noun pattern is a semantic-grammatical pattern with a simple noun phrase that is not marked with a delimiter (a/an/the). In traditional grammatical parlance, it is referred to as a zero-article (Ø) noun (lacking a so-called definite article the or indefinite article a/an). Bare plurals contrast with the bare singular noun pattern, and they contrast with marked nouns, especially plural marked nouns.

Examples of bare plurals include:

• They love apples.
• I depend on chocolate bars to survive my long study sessions.
• The structure consists of pipes, steel bars, and plastic supports.

This analysis below is sketched out in Lee (2017)

1 Basic pattern

The basic, default meaning is a set or group of things -- a set, group, collection, or mass of objects, items or entities. It is also indefinite, so it also conveys the meaning of being new, unknown, or unfamiliar to the reader or listener.

• Bare plural pattern: A set or group of items, which is assumed to be new, unfamiliar, or unknown to the listener/reader.

For example:

1. I need to buy apples. (bare plural pattern for set of items; unfamiliar to listener)
2. I bought fried chicken. (bare singular pattern for material nouns)
3. Here are the apples. (definite plural for a set of items known/familiar to the listener)

4 See also

▼ Delimiters

  Bare plural noun pattern

  Bare singular noun pattern

  Definite noun pattern

  Delimiters

  Indefinite noun pattern

  Marked singular noun pattern

  Teaching delimiters