Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mellow-d]

Hi, I have a question from a nearly fluent student. On his test, he said that the grammar structure: "in food" was incorrect.

Here is the sentence:

"Dandelions are great in food, they are fun to pick and they can give you great and beautiful experience of life." (The paragraph goes on to talk about different dandelion salads and pies.)

He said he learned that when you use "in", it has to be followed by "foods" or change "in" to "as" to match "food". So his answer is:
"Dandelions are great in foods" or "Dandelions are great as food"

He understands that the dandelion is being talked about as an ingredient so "in" should be used; however, he insists "foods" is more correct to use.

Is he right?

[crossmr]

yes and no.

Food is uncountable and used to talk about food as a substance.
Foods is countable and is used to talk about different types of food.

Though casually we often use food to describe many types of food, for example those present on a table.

so technically dandelions could be good in either case.

[Jake_Kim]

food, n.
1 (u) things that people or animals eat
2 (c, u) a particular type of food

So this student is insisting on implying various cuisines by 'foods'?

[Reise-ohne-Ende]

I don't know what official style guides say, but "in food" sounds more natural to me than "in foods". Because you're not talking about specific foods/recipes. It's more just saying, they're good as an ingredient.

[mellow-d]

Well, he's insisting that if one were to use "in", it should be followed by "foods" not "food".

(in food= X, in foods=O)

[crossmr]

then no, he's wrong. naturally we use "in food" but I'd take "in foods" depending on the context. If he's insisting that "in food" is wrong, then he's wrong.

[nathanrutledge]

what's the deal with the end of the sentence?

"and they can give you great and beautiful experience of life."

"and they can give you great and beautiful experiences in life."

OR

"and they can give you a great and beautiful experience in life."

It all seems really awkward to me, however. Maybe I just haven't found the right dandelion to trip my trigger?

[mellow-d]

Thanks everyone,

I know (about the end of the sentence) but I didn't want to complicate the situation. The whole writing is horrible!!!

So, it's possible that both are correct. I know what sounds right to me but the article does go on about different pies, salads and other kinds of food. I will let him know that "in food" can be right also but he does make a good case.

[Globutron]

Yeah it was the end of the sentences I was frowning at, too. Food and foods both work for me.

[diarmuid2k]

i'd go with "both are correct" as i cannot find anything to suggest either is incorrect.

However, all of the references I can find immediately have the preposition "in" paired with the countable "foods". That's not to say "in food" in incorrect, just that I haven't found a solid source for its use in the context cited above (contained in food).

[Wai Mian]

"food" as a countable usually refers to 'cuisine' and is preceded by a region or country. also i think the proper usage is 'as food'. Even if "in foods" is grammatically acceptable, it's very awkward usage that no native speaker would use. Writing is a proscriptive endeavor, more often that not.

[crossmr]

[Wai Mian]

"In foods" is very awkward without a adjunct within the noun phrase (in Korean foods, in fatty foods) , no native speaker would write like that. Regardless of the missing adjunct, "Fatty foods" still sounds weird and overly technical.

[crossmr]