"As a mean(s?) for"
What's more correct, the plural or singular use of "mean" in the following phrases:
- As a means for
- As a mean for
My intuition is the singular, the second one, since we have a singular "a" there. But common usage seems to be in the plural.
Solution 1:
The word "means" is, in this context, considered to be a singular noun. That is, both the singular and plural of this noun are written as "means". Just because a word ends in "s" doesn't mean it's a plural noun: take "lens", or "news" for example. See http://www.focus.olsztyn.pl/en-grammar-nouns-uncountable-s.html