Why is "collect a coin" ungrammatical?
I'm on the topic of countability and an example in my book says that "collect a coin" is ungrammatical, and that you say "collect coins" instead. But why? Is it because "collecting" is not appropriate for one coin?
Solution 1:
When discussing the collection of popular collectables such as coins, there is an understandable tendency to blur the different meanings of the verb collect, making it possible to find and imagine examples of collecting a single coin that are neither ungrammatical nor illogical and that are neither convoluted nor imaginary in the world of numismatics; and this is why I would suggest that the time spent on the topic of countability by your book would have perhaps been better spent explaining why “numismatics” is “coin collecting” and “numismatists” are “coin collectors” (and not “coins collecting” and “coins collectors,” respectively) than by picking on the grammaticality of “collect a coin.”
An astute and well received (currently +3) comment above correctly notes that coin collectors would “say [they] bought a coin for [their] collection, not that [they] collected a coin for [their] collection” to correctly show that “collected a coin” would not be used with “for a collection.”
However, just as “collected” is not the right verb in that particular phrase, neither is “bought” the perfect one, for a coin is often “acquired or gotten for a collection” by “getting it in” or “culling it from” circulation (pocket change) and not always by purchasing it.
Please note that I bring this up, not at all to be nit-picky with that good comment, but rather as simply an introduction to the following attempt to try to explain why the “natural tendency to blur [and perhaps even overlap] the different meanings of the verb collect” mentioned in paragraph 1 exists and how it is perhaps its existence that gives rise to logical and non-convoluted uses of "collecting one or a [single] coin” in the discussion of coin collecting:
Both the “getting” in “getting a coin in circulation” and the “culling” in “culling a coin from circulation” have close connections with the verb “collect” that, in my opinion, cause this blurring/overlapping.
Regarding “getting,” ‘Cambridge Dictionaries Online’ uses “To get [and keep]” in its entry for “collect” relevant to coin collecting (cf: the use of the plural “things” and the example using the plural “stamps”) and in the entry relating to the word’s “fetching” notion, “Get” is presented in parenthesis right after the word, which I interpret as meaning that they’re synonymous or nearly so.
collect verb (AS A HOBBY)
A2 [T] to get and keep things of one type such as stamps or coins as a hobby:
She collects dolls.
So when did you start collecting antique glass?
collect verb (GET)
A2 [T] mainly UK to go to a place and bring someone or something away from it:
Your shoes will be repaired and ready for you to collect on Thursday.
I'll collect you from the station.
(from 'Cambridge Dictionaries Online' with emphasis added)
As for “culling,” ‘The ‘American Heritage Roget’s Thesaurus’ connects “cull” directly with “collect” (arguably used with a singular [some]thing), in definition 2:
cull verb
2. To collect (something) bit by bit [or coin by coin?].
(from ‘The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus’ via ‘The Free Dictionary by Farlex’, with emphasis and bracketed question added)
As a numismatist (although neither a grammarian nor a logician) and with these connections between ‘getting,’ ‘culling,’ and ‘collecting ’ (all with connections themselves with numismatics) in mind, I find nothing illogical, ungrammatical, convoluted, or imaginary in the following examples where “collected” is used with a singular coin in contexts not requiring a trip to the post office:
[He] still has the first coin he collected from circulation (a 1917-S Mercury dime).
(from ‘The Numismatist’ — August 2010, via ‘digital.ipcprintservices[dot]com’)
(from paragraphs 5 and 6, respectively of a ‘Coin World’ article discussing coin collecting strategies)
I collected a coin from each country we visited.
(from ‘Events in the Life of an Ordinary Man’ by Richard R. Pariseau, via Google Books’)
Solution 2:
The short and simple answer is that one coin is not a collection by definition. A collection has to be more that one item. From Oxford Dictionaries.com:
Bring or gather together (a number of things)
There is a grey area in that collect also has a sense of 'fetch'. From the same source:
Call for and take away; fetch
This sense is basically gathering together the things that you own, as in collect your mail from the post office, or collect your certificate when you graduate. In this sense it is possible that you may, for example, have bought a rare coin which you could then collect from the post office.
Solution 3:
The English language is very varied, and saying "this is ungrammatical" is dangerous. In this case, the book is wrong.
The word "collect" has different meanings. My dictionary has six different meanings for the verb alone, plus an adjective ("I called my mother collect" meaning the mother paid for the phone call) and two nouns (collect = winning bet, and collect = a short prayer, in church use). One of the verbs would be quite commonly connected with "coins", one would be quite commonly connected with "a coin", and one could be used with "a coin" in a very hypothetical situation.
"Collect" is used for gathering together, and for systematically seeking and acquiring. People can collect stamps, coins, teddy bears, some rare people even collect husbands or wives. In that case someone collecting coins would say "I collect coins", not "I collect a coin". Even if they just started collecting and have just purchased their first coin, they would say "I collect coins".
"Collect" is used for calling for and taking away an item or items. I collect the children from school, or I collect a child from school. If I pick up a single coin somewhere, then I collect a coin. Not coins. Example conversation: "What did you do at Mr. Smith's house yesterday?" "I collected a coin". "Do you collect coins?" "No, I'm a debt collector". If the person picks up one coin, and not two or three or more, they say "I collect a coin".
You collect yourself (recovering from some shock), and you can collect a horse (bring its hind legs together), you can collect your hair in a pony tail, doesn't work with a coin.
"His car left the road and collected a garbage can". It hit and probably destroyed a garbage can. The coin shop owner might say (very hypothetically) "This idiot driver lost control of his car and drove straight into my shop; fortunately all the merchandise is usually in the back of the store, so he collected my store sign and one coin that was in the shop window".
If I heard someone say "I collected a coin" I would immediately think that this person called at some place and picked up a single coin, and not that they are a coin collector, or that they made a grammatical error.
Solution 4:
Children often collect objects that mean something special to them, and what started off as a hobby can lead to a passion. People collect all sorts of things and mementos, for example:
- stamps (How to collect stamps)
- badges (How did you collect badges)
- mugs (I collect mugs)
- movie posters “Some people collect movie posters as a pure investment. Others collect posters because they love the movie.”
- coins (7 reasons to collect coins)
This is what the OP's "book" was referring to. A collection of stamps, badges, mugs etc. require the plural form if the noun is countable. See Papa Poule's answer
This does not mean that you cannot collect a single item. See also Roaring Fish's answer. Collect when it means fetch, or pick up something is a different meaning. For example:
After booking online, I can collect (pick up) my train ticket(s) at the railway station.
It does not mean I keep a number of train tickets at home.