the skie or skies

"The skies being clear of clouds, an astronomer carried out an observation."

Would be any difference, if I used ''sky" in this sentence? "the skies" is noncountable? Does it take a plural or singular verb?

ostap77 said:

"The skies being clear of clouds, an astronomer carried out observation."

Would be any difference, if I used ''sky" in this sentence? "the skies" is noncountable? Does it take a plural or singular verb?

Click to expand...

Are these two interchangeable?

"The skies being clear of clouds, an astronomer carried out an observation."

and

"The sky being clear of clouds, an astronomer carried out an observation."

are equivalent in both meaning and style, although normally the prosaic term is "sky". "Skies" is usually reserved for more poetic or literary purposes.

"Skies" takes a plural verb, e.g. "The skies are clear."

probus said:

"The skies being clear of clouds, an astronomer carried out an observation."

and

"The sky being clear of clouds, an astronomer carried out an observation."

are equivalent in both meaning and style, although normally the prosaic term is "sky". "Skies" is usually reserved for more poetic or literary purposes.

"Skies" takes a plural verb, e.g. "The skies are clear."

Click to expand...

When do we use observation being noncoutable? Here is what I've snaged off the Internet.

"2 a [noncount] : the act of careful watching and listening : the activity of paying close attention to someone or something in order to get information ▪ These facts are based on close observation of the birds in the wild. ▪
▪ The plants seem to have recovered from the disease, but they are still under observation. [=someone is watching them carefully] ▪ He has been under government observation [=the government has been watching him carefully] for six months. ▪ They're keeping him at the hospital for observation [=so that doctors can watch him carefully] for another few days"

Can we say "carry out observation" trying to convey generic meaning not a specific act of observation?

"When do we use observation as being non-countable?"

When the activity is progressive or continuing. Keeping a patient or a plant under observation is progressive and that kind of observation is non-countable.

Observations such as those made by pundits and astronomers are discrete acts and take the indefinite article in the singular.