'Equipment' or 'Equipments'? Which One Is Correct? | Mastering Grammar

(Last Updated: 8 July 2024)

Equipment or Equipments: Which One Is Correct?

Equipment is an uncountable noun and should not be used in the plural form:

✅ The gym has all the latest sports equipment.
❌ The gym has all the latest sports equipments.

✅ The film crew brought a lot of equipment to the shooting location.
❌ The film crew brought a lot of equipments to the shooting location.

Like other uncountable nouns, equipment takes a singular verb:

✅ Most of the equipment was damaged in the fire and needs to be replaced.
❌ Most of the equipment were damaged in the fire and need to be replaced.

✅ The team is ready to start the project now that all the equipment has arrived.
❌ The team is ready to start the project now that all the equipment have arrived.

To refer to a single machine or tool, use a piece of equipment or an item of equipment. Do not say an equipment:

✅ A camera tripod is a useful piece of equipment for taking steady photos.
❌ A camera tripod is a useful equipment for taking steady photos.

✅ A life jacket is a mandatory item of equipment on any boat.
❌ A life jacket is a mandatory equipment on any boat.

The entry for the noun equipment in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

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Examples from the Media

Many private providers cherry-pick courses and have therefore rolled out less expensive courses such as business diplomas that don't require a lot of equipment. —The Sydney Morning Herald (2015)

Federal inspectors have found dirty equipment and clothing, missing safeguards and procedures and dozens of other issues at an eye drops manufacturer in India. —Daily Mail (2023)

Cyberworks makes self-driving robots out of regular pieces of equipment. —Toronto Star (2022)

Even this year's new ski equipment can usually be bought for less than the list price, particularly when it is packaged with two or three other items of equipment. —The New York Times (1991)

Real-World Examples of Misuse

The word equipment is an uncountable noun, which means it does not have a plural form. The correct term is safety equipment.

1. The word equipment is an uncountable noun, which means it does not have a plural form. Therefore, the correct term is equipment and not equipments.
2. The phrase after use, in which use functions as a noun, is commonly employed to indicate what should be done after something has been used. Alternatively, you could use the verb form by rephrasing the sentence as Please return the equipment after using it, where the word it refers back to the equipment that was used.

The noun equipment, which is uncountable, may be quantified by using the phrase a piece of equipment.

(Source: 英文文法精讀與練習)
(Also by the Same Author: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13)

The word equipment does not have a plural form because it is an uncountable noun.