Staff seems to be an interesting noun because while most of the time it is uncountable and doesn’t have a plural form, you still can say ‘a staff that…’.
So would you classify ‘staff’ as countable or uncountable?
Many thanks,
Torsten
TOEIC listening, photographs: The tiler
Hi Torsten,
I believe, the link below proves to be helpful for those interested. In sports, you can come across “England are” referring to a team while in its turn, “team/side/crew are” (implying members of a group of people).
ldoceonline.com/dictionary/staff_1
Regards.
Hi Eugen,
The words staff and team are completely different because while ‘team’ has a plural form, ‘staff’ doesn’t. I’m not talking about the fact that you can refer to team as they ‘they’ or as ‘are’. I’m talking about the fact that while you can’t say ‘the staffs’ when referring to the employees of a company you can say ‘a staff’.
TOEIC listening, photographs: The plumber with the spanner
Yes, Torsten, you’re right as to the different meaning of ‘staff’ and ‘team’ - my fault mixing it up. Though examples of ‘staffs’ are not an extraordinary thing, would you have a look at:http://bnc.bl.uk/saraWeb.php?qy=staffs&mysubmit=Go
Regards.
Using the plural form of ‘staff’ is very rare and often old fashioned. It’s similar to ‘monies’.
TOEIC listening, photographs: Make up time