Plural But Singular in Construction

Plural But Singular in Construction Plural But Singular in Construction Plural But Singular in Construction By Mark Nichol In the dictionary, when you’re looking up a noun that ends in s, you’re apt to find a notation like this: â€Å"noun plural but singular in construction.† What does that mean? This description refers to words like news that appear to be plural but take a singular verb (hence the word construction, meaning â€Å"sentence structure,† not â€Å"appearance†). One category of words plural in appearance but singular in use is that of intellectual pursuits and their associated academic disciplines: For mathematics, physics, and the like, we use a singular verb: â€Å"Mathematics is difficult for him†; â€Å"The physics is staggeringly complex.† However, similar terms may use singular or plural verbs depending on the sense: â€Å"Statistics is not my favorite subject†; â€Å"The statistics are valid.† In other contexts, usage varies. Gymnastics is treated singularly (â€Å"Gymnastics is an Olympic sport†), but calisthenics takes a plural verb (â€Å"Calisthenics are boring†). Both words refer to a routine of physical activities, but noun-verb agreement is inconsistent. Some words that are plural but refer to a unified pair of objects, such as (eye)glasses, pants, and scissors, are nevertheless associated with plural verbs: â€Å"My glasses are missing†; â€Å"These pants have gotten too tight†; â€Å"The scissors are dull.† Words in several other categories are categorical exceptions: Proper names, composition titles, and words used as words are always singular, even if they are plural in form: Acme and Sons is a highly rated company. Spats is a downtown bar. Demons is a terrible movie. Shades is a best-selling novel. Hits is an informal word meaning â€Å"search returns.† Aussies is a nickname for Australians. A few words appear to be plural but are in fact taken directly from other languages in which s at the end of a word does not denote a plural form. For example, biceps (from Latin) is singular, though many people refer to the muscle in the front of one upper arm as a bicep, and kudo (from Greek) is widely employed as the singular form of kudos meaning â€Å"praise† or â€Å"prestige† though the latter form is singular. (Bicep and kudo are back-formations linguistic innovations of varying legitimacy but are not advisable in formal writing.) Rarely, you’ll see a word that is plural in both appearance and usage, though the literal meaning of the word is singular. For example, whereabouts means â€Å"location,† but one writes that a person’s whereabouts are unknown (even though a person can be in only one location at once). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:45 Synonyms for â€Å"Food†The Six Spellings of "Long E"50 Synonyms for "Song"