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A grammar book I'm reading now explains, "the word valuables is a plural noun, but unlike many others, phrases like three valuables is possible although a/one valuable is impossible".

Googling such phrases, however, I can find no similar ones. If the book's explanation is correct, that means expressions like "I have about six or seven valuables in my suitcase." are just okay.

Does that way of expression sound natural to you?

Takashi
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  • I’ve always treated “valuables” as uncountable, despite being plural and short for the countable “valuable items”. – StephenS Aug 23 '20 at 23:56
  • It is very rare to say things like "three valuables", though I think it is technically correct, just unidiomatic. However, we do sometimes say "several valuables" or "a number of valuables" (as in https://www.leamingtoncourier.co.uk/news/several-valuables-taken-car-parked-warwickshire-thieves-557425 ). – rjpond Aug 24 '20 at 00:31

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Whilst the OED and Lexico say only that it is "usually" plural, it is vanishingly rare for a native speaker to refer to "a valuable" in the singular. References to specific numbers in the plural, such as "two valuables", are almost equally rare.

Expressions such as "several valuables" and "a number of valuables" are in use alongside "many valuables", "any valuables", "some valuables", "her valuables", etc.

rjpond
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  • Thanks. Based on StephenS's and your information as well as my own search result, I feel your answer fully explains the general idea to my question. There might be some very rare cases, however. I have found just one of the very rare examples at a StackExchange page. Mentioned in it was "100 valuables". If you're interested, please take a look. https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/49492/should-police-departments-recommend-the-securit-leadsonline-com-website-as-a-sec – Takashi Aug 24 '20 at 12:46