Incorrect:
“I have many works to do today”.
Correct:
“I have much work to do today”.
Normally, work is not countable into individual items. For such things that are not normally countable (water, understanding, information, wood etc.), we use singular and not plural for the noun form. If you want to say you have many things to do, you can either say “I have many tasks to do” or simply “I have many things to do”.
Other examples of uncountable nouns:
- This water tastes good.
- The information given in this forum is very helpful.
As work is generally not countable into individual items, we use the singular form for ‘work’ as a noun. But there are some exceptions to this where we use the countable noun form of work which is “works”:
Exception 1:
We consider literary, artistic or intellectual properties as countable. This may be because they are very special and distinguished. For these, we use “Works” as the plural form.
Ex:
A. “Rome has many works of DaVinci”.
B. “These works of art are amazing”.
C. “Generations have fallen in love with the literary works of Shakespeare”.
D. “The works of God or evil”.
E. “Righteous works”.
Exception 2:
Places of establishment of work. Ex: Ironworks
Exception 3:
Informal: “It’s a car with the works”. This one is related to the category 1 above.
For common scenarios or when in doubt, use the singular form “work” for noun.
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