2022-04-16 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – F - -ful & -fuls

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2022-04-16

ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – F - -ful & -fuls

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Common Errors in English Usage Dictionary:

-fuls & -ful

It’s one cupful, 

         but two cupfuls, 

         not “two cupsful.” 

The same goes for "spoonfuls” and “glassfuls.”

 

Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions:

-ful & -fuls

In recipes, the plural of cupful (cup full) is cupfuls,

presumably because the same container 

          is used more than once. 

If you fill two cups with coffee, however, you have two cups full. 

 

Because the same container rules usually applies, 

the plurals are mouthfuls, armfuls, tablespoonfuls, handfuls, etc.

 

Note, however, that you serve four guests four glasses full of iced tea.

 

Dictionary.com:

-fuls

= a suffix meaning “full of,” “characterized by” 

    (shameful; beautiful; careful; thoughtful); 

    “tending to,” “able to” (wakeful; harmful); 

    “as much as will fill” (spoonful).

 

Dictionary.com:

USAGE NOTE FOR -FUL

The plurals of nouns ending in -ful 

are usually formed by adding -s to the suffix: 

          two cupfuls; 

          two scant teaspoonfuls. 

Perhaps influenced by the phrase 

in which a noun is followed by the adjective full 

( both arms full of packages ), 

some speakers and writers pluralize 

such nouns by adding -s before the suffix: 

            two cupsful.

 

COLLINS ENGLISH DICTIONARY:

USAGE FOR -FUL

Where the amount held by a spoon, etc, 

            is used as a rough unit of measurement, 

            the correct form is spoonful, etc: 

                   take a spoonful of this medicine every day . 

Spoon full is used in a sentence 

           such as 

            he held out a spoon full of dark liquid, 

            where full of describes the spoon. 

 

A plural form such as spoonfuls 

            is preferred by many speakers and writers to spoonsful

 

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary:

usage: 

The plurals of nouns ending in -ful are usu. formed 

by adding -s to the suffix: 

             two cupfuls. 

 

Perhaps influenced by the phrase in 

           which a noun is followed by the adjective full 

           (both arms full of packages), 

           some speakers and writers pluralize such nouns 

           by adding -s before the suffix: two cupsful.

 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Usage Notes

Are You 'Regretful' or 'Regrettable'?

We hope neither is applicable

It has occasionally been noted that the English language 

is a bit of a mess (as are many other languages). 

In particular, 

the way in which our affixes function

appears to be some cruel joke, 

designed to thwart the learner’s efforts to speak and write fluently. 

 

For instance, there are many adjectives

which may end with either -ful or -able, 

depending on which meaning is desired. 

 

We say that something is 

        hurtful to mean that it causes injury, 

and something else is 

        hurtable if it is capable of being hurt. 

This may feel quite simple, 

but there are many similar words which cause no end of trouble.

 

Think back to some recent poor choice, 

a thing which you now very much wish you had not done. 

 

Should you use regretful or regrettable in describing this incident? 

If you wish to express your remorse 

for the inappropriate toast you made at that wedding 

you would describe yourself as regretful (“full of regret”), 

but were you to describe the toast itself 

it would be better to refer to it as regrettable (“deserving regret”). 

 

Once again, this may seem simple enough, 

but it causes trouble for a number of English speakers, 

and understandably so.

 

Both of these words have adjective suffixes. -able 

may mean “capable of, fit for, or worthy of” (breakable)

or “tending, given, or liable to” (agreeable). 

-ful has more meanings, 

such as “full of” (prideful), “characterized by” (peaceful), 

“having the qualities of” (masterful), 

and “tending, given, or liable to” (helpful). 

 

Careful readers will note that 

the last one of each word’s definition is exactly the same, 

which perhaps explains where confusion comes from.

 

Regrettable is the slightly older of the two, 

with use as far back as the late 16th century; 

regretful appears in the middle of the 17th.

 

When there is confusion between these words 

it more often is a case of 

people using regretful to mean “deserving regret.” 

Such use is more commonly found in speech than in writing.

 

In a related vein, the adverbial forms of these words 

are sometimes found transposed in a similar manner, 

with regretfully used where regrettably would be more apt. 

This use may well have been influenced by hopefully,

a word which had earlier behaved in a similar fashion.

 

If you need a means of distinguishing between these adjectives

this is a case where the suffixes may be of assistance.

 

If that wedding toast has left you full of regret 

you should use regretful to describe yourself in its aftermath, and, 

as it is a thing which is able to be regretted,

the toast itself was regrettable.