attire

[Samuel1]

My sentences:

-John couldn't have been mistaken for Peter. Their attire(s) is/are different. The murderer must be...

==============
We are talking about two persons/things, so is the plural form optional and I can use the singular or the plural as I like?

Thank you.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Attire is uncountable, see http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/attire

Not a teacher.

 

[SoothingDave]

"Clothes" or "clothing" is more natural.

 

[Samuel1]

Thank you, Dave. But do you think ATTIRE could be both plural and singular?

Do you think, as you suggest, this is OK:

-Their clothing is/was different

 

[Rover_KE]

'Their clothing is/was different.':tick:
'Their clothes are/were different.':tick:

 

[Matthew Wai]

But do you think ATTIRE could be both plural and singular?

Attire, apparel and clothing are uncountable and cannot be plural.

Not a teacher.

 

[Samuel1]

Do native speakers think ATTIRE could be both plural and singular?

 

[MikeNewYork]

In most cases, "attire" is uncountable. That means it does not have a plural form. So "their attire is different" is correct.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Do native speakers think ATTIRE could be both plural and singular?

When all dictionaries say it is uncountable, would you believe if a native speaker said it could be plural?

Not a teacher.

 

[Raymott]

That's a strange question when all dictionaries don't say that.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/attire

 

[MikeNewYork]

Not all dictionaries mark nouns as countable versus uncountable. American Heritage is one that doesn't.

 

[Matthew Wai]

That's a strange question when all dictionaries don't say that.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/attire

It is strange that the above dictionary never says whether a noun is countable or uncountable.

Not a teacher.

 

[Raymott]

It is strange that the above dictionary never says whether a noun is countable or uncountable.

The above dictionary has the definitions from three dictionaries.
On another point, 'never' is wrong. It's one of my pet peeves. In Australia, only poor speakers say things like "I never did it!" to mean "I didn't do it." You want, "doesn't say".

 

[Matthew Wai]

The above dictionary has the definitions from three dictionaries.

But none of them mark nouns as countable/uncountable, that's why I said 'It is strange'.

Not a teacher.

 

[Tdol]

I suppose the distinction is less important for native speakers- I don't remember ever hearing the terms used when I was at school.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I don't either.

 

[emsr2d2]

I learnt about countable and uncountable nouns only when I started teaching English. As a native speaker, we just know how the different nouns are used. In daily non-teaching life, we're not interested in, nor do we need, the grammatical terms for them.