0

I've found several discussions about the general use of "collection" vs "collections" but not in the context of debt collection, specifically.

I'm currently editing a series of documents that describe debt collection software (fun!) and the document is rather inconsistent in its use of "collection" vs "collections" across a variety of contexts, but especially when "collection(s)" is used to describe a noun. For example, "collection(s)' software," "collection(s) officer," but also "collection(s) and recovery."

Is this a situation where both uses are correct, but it's more important to be consistent? I often hear people say and write both "the bill went to collections" and "the bill went to collection."

For context, this is for a U.S. audience, so I'm seeking to understand the preferred or standard usage in U.S. English.

KillingTime
  • 6,206
spacegarlic
  • 11
  • 4
    Does this answer your question? When are attributive nouns plural? Also find many more of these questions here ... "sport arena" or "sports arena"; "trade union" or "trades union" ... – GEdgar Mar 27 '24 at 14:04
  • 1
    You need to find what is usual where you work. If there is a department called collections, then use "collections" for that. If people have a job title "Collection officer" or "Collections officer" then you need to match that. Normally "debt collection" is the usual term for the process, but it seems common to pluralise many departments (accounts payable, goods received, human resources, X services...) – Stuart F Mar 27 '24 at 14:07
  • I'm an editor and this is one of my client's clients. That's the problem, they're not consistent in how they use "collection" vs "collections" even in their job titles. It's their website content and it needs a lot of work, so I'm trying to determine what is the best recommendation that I can make to them as far as being consistent about which one they use (and any exceptions to that rule). – spacegarlic Mar 27 '24 at 14:12
  • For the software, in any event, it would be *debt collection software. However, collections agent and sent to collections, plural. I doubt there is an officer here. They're all a bunch of scoundrels, anyway. I can tell some stories about this ... – Lambie Mar 27 '24 at 14:37
  • One obviously assumes that the software will be used to deal with more than one occasion of debt, so using the plural collections has no advantage. The default rule of thumb is to go with the singular form. But exceptions do occur, so an online check for reputable-looking examples is wise. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 27 '24 at 14:56

0 Answers0