Is 'hair' singular or plural?
When one says I was washing my hair, is it singular or plural? What is the singular for hair?
This seems to be one of those plural issues where a different plural is used when referring to the large uncountable group. "I found 3 gray hairs this morning" is proper but so is "I washed my hair this morning".
In the second case, your entire head covered with individuals hairs is treated as a single object or group which is why it is referred to in a singular form.
The word hair in some cases is a collective noun, and in other cases is not a collective noun.
As reported from the NOAD, the meaning of the word is:
- Any of the fine threadlike strands growing from the skin of humans, mammals, and some other animals.
- Such strands collectively, especially those growing on a person's head.
In most of the phrases, the word used is hair; in some cases is hairs (to split hairs).
The noun hair is a singular, plural, or collective noun. It all depends on the context of the sentence.
In your sentence,
I was washing my hair.
the noun hair is the collective. It is also the case in:
I have my hair cut.
She brushed her long red hair.
It is singular in following sentences.
I found a hair in my soup.
I just pulled out one of your white hair
It is plural in the following sentences.
There are dog hairs on the sofa.
I lost a lot of hairs after the operation.
Neither, it is collective, meaning that 'hair' in this context refers to all your hair.