Noun Phrase Agreement — Agreement & Concord
What Is It?
Noun phrase agreement aligns determiners, quantifiers, and adjectives with the number and countability of their nouns.
Canonical pattern: Determiner / Quantifier → Noun (sg/pl).
Why Use Noun Phrase Agreement?
- Precision – prevents mismatched UI messages (“this files” ≠ “these files”).
- Readability – smooths flow in tooltips and labels.
- Localization – simplifies string‑pluralisation logic.
- Consistency – keeps spec tables tidy.
When to Choose Noun Phrase Agreement
- UI text showing counts (“0 errors,” “1 error,” “2 errors”).
- Data‑model docs listing collection fields.
- Marketing copy with feature bullet lists.
Forming Noun Phrase Agreement Sentences
| Pattern | Formula | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Singular Specific | this/that + Nₛg | this repository |
| Plural Specific | these/those + Nₚl | those keys |
| Quantified Singular | each/every + Nₛg | every pod |
| Quantified Plural | many/few + Nₚl | many requests |
Tips for Writing with Noun Phrase Agreement
- Swap fewer/many for count nouns; use less/much for mass nouns.
- Avoid double markers (“all of the users” → “all users”).
- Pluralize technical jargon correctly (“indices,” not “indexes,” unless house style says so).
- Sync variable‑driven strings with plural rules in i18n libraries.
- Use numeral + noun for dashboards (“3 nodes”), skipping articles.
Exceptions & Nuances
Uncountable nouns like storage resist plural determiners—write “much storage,” not “many storages.” Some proper nouns remain plural‑looking but singular (GitHub Actions is, not are).