jaraco / jaraco/inflect

Noncount (mass) nouns improperly pluralized

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Description

I stumbled on this trying to pluralize "equipment" using inflect. `plural_noun()` pluralizes it as "equipments", which is wrong.

There's a group of words in English that are used to count or measure, which don't have a plural form. Example: https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/eb/3000-words/topic/noncount-nouns, Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_noun.

Additionally, there are a group of noncount nouns, like "paper" and "sugar", that have multiple meanings and where pluralization is sometimes correct, depending on the meaning. I don't see how one could find a general solution for those words.

Is there a data structure in inflect where noncount words could be added?

Contributor guide

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Research direction

The issue centers on inflect's plural_noun() behavior; start by locating its pluralization data structures and how words such as equipment are handled. Completion should prevent incorrect pluralization of unambiguous noncount nouns while accounting for the stated ambiguity of words such as paper and sugar.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
38/100

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