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S ingulár and plurál
Sometimes we use a plurál noun for one thing that has two parts. For example:

trousers (two legs) also jeans/tights/shorts/pants

pyjamas (top and bottom)

glasses (or spectacles)

binoculars

scissors

T hese words are plurál, so they take a plurál verb: ® My trousers are too long. (not 'is too long') Y ou can also use a pair of + these words: © T hose are nice jeans. o r T h a ť s a nice pair of jeans. (not ' a nice jeans') • I need some new glasses. or I need a new pair of glasses. Some nouns end in -ics but are not usually plurál. For example: athletics mathematics (or m aths) physics electronics economics politics • G ymnastics is my favourite sport. News is not plurál (see Unit 69C): © W hat time is the news on television? (not ' are the news') Some words ending in -s can be singulár or plurál. 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 Some singulár nouns are often used with a plurál verb. For example: government staff team family audience committee company gymnastics

firm

T hese nouns are all groups of people. We often think of them as a number of people (= 'they'), n ot as one thing (= ' i ť ) . So we often use a plurál verb: • T he government (= they) want to increase taxes. • T he staff at the school (= they) are not happy with their new working conditions. In the same way, we often use a plurál verb after the name of a sports team or a company: • S cotland are playing France next week (in a football match). ® Shell have increased the price of petrol. A singulár verb (The government wants... / Shell has... etc.) is also possible. We always use a plurál verb with police: • T he police have arrested a friend of mine. (not ' The police has') • Do you think the police are well-paid? N ote that a person in the police is 'a policeman / a policewoman / a police officer' (not 'a police'). Wc do not often use the plurál of person ('persons'). Wc normally use people (a plurál w ord): © H e's a nice person. but T hey are nice people. © M any people don't have enough to eat. (not ' doesn't have') We think of a sum of money, a period of time, a distance etc. as one thing. So we use a singulár verb: © T wenty thousand pounds (= it) was stolen in the robbery. (not 'were stolen') • T hree 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.
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