work(s)

1.at work有两个意思：（1）“正在工作”，如He is hard at work和He's at work upon a new book（他正在写一本新书）。（2）“在工地上工作”或“在厂里工作”，如回答Is your brother at home? 可以说No, he's at work。at work（正在工作）后面可以接现在分词。例如：He is at work translating a long story.

2.把a work和works用来指“一件工作”和“多件工作”很不普通，最好用a task和tasks。

3.the work of the author（或artist等）里的work统指“作品”，是抽象名词，着重在它的特性，the works of the author（或artist等）里的works指一件一件的“作品”，比较下面两句：

• I can hardly recognize the work of Charles Lamb（英国19世纪文学家）.
• I have read the complete works of Charles Lamb.

4.复数形式works（工厂）用作主语的时候通常被当作单数，但当作复数也可以。例如：The glass-works is（或are）outside the town.

一个工厂是works，两个、三个工厂也是works。例如：There was a gas-works in the town. There were two gas-works in the town. 和All the works are to open again soon. works作“工厂”解主要用在英国。

5.start work和start working都可以说，stop work和stop working也都可以说。