U

uncountable nouns are treated grammatically as singular whether the sense is plural or not. You may not add an 's'.

They include:
accomodation, advertising, advice, air conditioning, ammunition, apparatus, bait, behaviour, counsel, congestion, coursework, education, engineering, equipment, evidence, furniture, hardware, health, homework, housework, information, intelligence, knowledge, laughter, legislation, litigation, luck, machinery, milk, news, poverty, prosperity, recognition, research, scenery, slang, software, stability, talent, vengeance.

The following are usually uncountable, though in some special circumstances a plural use may be acceptable:
administration, communication, concrete, damage, entertainment, flour, food, history, oil, staff, sand, sugar, transport, vocabulary, water, work, and almost anything ending in -ism.

universities: the two oldest ones have well-established abbreviations which can be used without explanation for second references:

The younger institutions are best referred to later in the story by a shortened version of their names: Other terms you may come across:

utilise has a strict and specific meaning. Not one user in 1,000 knows what it is (to use something for a purpose other than that for which it was intended). Use "use".

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