"Types" or "type" "food" or "foods"

[Rachel Adams]

These sentences are mine

Should it be "food" or "foods" "type" or "types"?

1. "I can cook all type of food."

2. "I can cook all types of foods."

3. "I can cook all type of foods."

4. "I can cook all types of food."

 

[Rover_KE]

#4.

 

[emsr2d2]

These sentences are mine.

Should it be "food" or "foods", and "type" or "types"?

1. "I can cook all type of food." :cross:

2. "I can cook all types of foods." :tick:

3. "I can cook all type of foods." :cross:

4. "I can cook all types of food." :tick:

Of the two I have marked as correct above, #4 is the most likely. In that sentence, it refers to different dishes. In sentence #2, it refers to specific foodstuffs.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Of the two I have marked as correct above, #4 is the most likely. In that sentence, it refers to different dishes. In sentence #2, it refers to specific dishes.

Sorry, could you please explain the difference between #2 and #4 again?

 

[emsr2d2]

For me, sentence 2 would mean you're good at cooking individual foods: potatoes, tomatoes, asparagus etc. Sentence 4 would mean you're good at cooking dishes that are made up of lots of ingredients: spaghetti bolognese, a roast dinner, curry with rice and naan bread etc.

I'm fairly certain that not everyone will agree with me.

Edit: Sorry, I realised I made a mistake in post #3. I have edited it to make it clearer (I hope!)

 

[Rachel Adams]

For me, sentence 2 would mean you're good at cooking individual foods: potatoes, tomatoes, asparagus etc. Sentence 4 would mean you're good at cooking dishes that are made up of lots of ingredients: spaghetti bolognese, a roast dinner, curry with rice and naan bread etc.

I'm fairly certain that not everyone will agree with me.

Edit: Sorry, I realised I made a mistake in post #3. I have edited it to make it clearer (I hope!)

This is how I would understand them being a non-native speaker. 2 means I cook pasta, mushrooms, etc. I cook different dishes. 4 means I can cook mushrooms, pasta, etc differently.

 

[emsr2d2]

For me, it's the opposite. "A food" (singular) and "foods" (plural) refer to just one thing, or multiples of that one thing. We've had trouble explaining this on the forum in the past!

A potato is a food.
Potatoes, tomatoes and asparagus are foods.
Pizza is food.

"Food", for me, is a generic term for several ingredients that you have combined and cooked (if cooking is necessary), and put in a bowl or on a plate ready for you to eat.