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Noms singuliers ou pluriels - cours

Singular or plural.

These words are plural, so they take a plural verb:

• My trousers are too long, (not 'is too long')

You can also use a pair of + these words:

• Those are nice jeans, or That's a nice pair of jeans, (not 'a nice jeans')

• I need some new glasses, or I need a new pair of glasses.

B/ Some nouns end in -ics but are not usually plural. For example: 

athletics/ gymnastics/ mathematics (or maths)/ physics/ electronics/ economics/ politics

• Gymnastics is my favourite sport.

News is not plural.

• What time is the news on television? (not 'are the news')

Some words ending in -s can be singular or plural. For example:
means ==> a means of transport ==> many means of transport
series ==> a television series ==> two television series
species ==> a species of bird ==>  200 species of bird

C/ Some singular nouns are often used with a plural verb. For example:

government/ staff/ team/ family/ audience/ committee/ company/ firm

These nouns are all groups of people. We often think of them as a number of people (= 'they'), not as one thing (= 'it'). So we often use a plural verb:

• The government (= they) want to increase taxes.

• The staff at the school (= they) are not happy with their new working conditions.

In the same way, we often use a plural verb after the name of a sports team or a company:

• Scotland are playing France next week (in a football match).

• Shell have increased the price of petrol.

A singular verb (The government wants... / Shell has, etc.) is also possible.

We always use a plural verb with police:

• The police have arrested a friend of mine, (not 'The police has')

• Do you think the police are well-paid?

Note that a person in the police is 'a policeman / a policewoman / a police officer' (not 'a police').

D/ We do not often use the plural of person ('persons'). We normally use people (a plural word):

• He's a nice person,    but    They are nice people.

• Many people don't have enough to eat. (not 'doesn't have')

E/ We think of a sum of money, a period of time, a distance etc. as one thing. So we use a singular verb:

• Twenty thousand pounds (= it) was stolen in the robbery, (not 'were stolen')

• Three years (=it) is a long time to be without a job. (not 'Three years are...)

• Six miles is a long way to walk every day

Choose the correct form of the verb, singular or plural.

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1. Gymnastics 0areisJe ne sais pas my favourite sport.

2. The trousers you bought for me 0don't fitdoesn'tJe ne sais pas me.

3. The police wantwants0Je ne sais pas to interview two men about the robbery last week.

4. Physics 0waswereJe ne sais pas my best subject at school.

5. Can I borrow your scissors? Mine aren'tisn't0Je ne sais pas sharp enough.

6. Fortunately the news 0weren'twasn'tJe ne sais pas as bad as we expected.

7. Three days aren't0isn'tJe ne sais pas long enough for a good holiday.

8. I can't find my binoculars. Do you know where 0they areit isJe ne sais pas ?

9. Do you think the people 0areisJe ne sais pas happy with the government ?

10. Does0DoJe ne sais pas the police know how the accident happened?

11. I don't like very hot weather. Thirty degrees are0isJe ne sais pas too warm for me.

12. Twenty thousand pounds 0werewasJe ne sais pas stolen in the robbery.

13. The staff at the school 0isn'taren'tJe ne sais pas happy with their new working conditions.

14. Scotland 0areisJe ne sais pas playing France next week (in a football match).