* It's a mass noun: Rice is considered a mass noun, meaning it's something that can't be easily counted individually (like water, sand, or flour). We don't typically talk about "one rice" or "two rices."
* Collective sense: Even though we're referring to a collection of grains, "rice" is used as a collective term to represent the whole mass.
Think of it like this:
* You wouldn't say "I have two waters," you'd say "I have two glasses of water."
* Similarly, you don't say "I bought three rices," you'd say "I bought three pounds of rice."
So, while "rice" refers to multiple grains, the word itself remains singular because it's used as a collective term for the whole quantity.