Is it common and acceptable to count personnel?
For e.g.
- Five personnel will be chosen to join the contest.
- Five Microloft personnel will be given a bonus.
- I spoke to 3 Microloft personnel regarding the issue.
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PlainH2O
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Some relevant q&a: https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/62507/she-hopes-to-earn-her-living-as-a-in-an-office https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/5922/when-and-why-do-does-staff-as-a-collective-noun-get-plural-singular-pronoun-ve https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/3497/can-uncountable-nouns-be-counted/3502#3502 – James K Oct 30 '22 at 07:20
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Even though the noun "personnel" is used this way, it is a non-countable noun, which means that it cannot be used in a sentence as a plural noun. This is because the noun "personnel" is referring to all the workers as a group, and you cannot have a plural "all".
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you cannot have a plural "all" <-- Where do you get this rule from? – MarcInManhattan Nov 01 '22 at 22:45
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I was referring to the fixed plural noun rule, my apologies. @MarcInManhattan – Jackie L Nov 02 '22 at 21:10
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No need to apologize! I was just wondering because "all" can be used in the plural. (E.g.: "I have five dogs. All are German shepherds.") What is the "fixed plural noun rule"? Is it from a grammar book? – MarcInManhattan Nov 03 '22 at 00:38