Wood/woods (American English)
Hi, there

In the US, do you use both “wood” and “woods” to mean “forest”?

Example:

“How many woods are there near your hometown?”.... “There are at least three woods there”

“There’s some woods near my house” or “There’s a wood near my house”

“I went to some woods near the church yesterday” or “I went to a woods near the church yesterday”?

Which of THESE sentences is right?

Thank you

Question

Wood/woods (American English)
Hi, there

In the US, do you use both “wood” and “woods” to mean “forest”?

Example:

“How many woods are there near your hometown?”.... “There are at least three woods there”

“There’s some woods near my house” or “There’s a wood near my house”

“I went to some woods near the church yesterday” or “I went to a woods near the church yesterday”?

Which of THESE sentences is right?

Thank you

Answer

Wood is a commodity, e.g I bought some wood to build a new patio.

The Woods are a forested outdoor area, eg I took a walk in the woods near my house yesterday.

Answer

What about “There’s SOME woods near my house”? OR “I went to SOME woods near the church”?

Answer

I agree with David.  Americans use "the woods" to describe a small forest.  In the last 40 years, I've never heard an American say, "There are at least three woods there" or "There's a wood near my house."

Answer

"Woods" is used for both the singular and the plural, so you could say "the woods" to describe a forest, or forests. You would not say "a wood" to describe one forest.
I am Irish, not American, so the following may or not may apply: We use "woods" as a name for a small forest usually, and "forest" for larger forests usually.

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