Atiqa Victoria :: COMMON MISTAKES WHEN USING ENGLISH- PART 1 ::

SINGULAR OR PLURAL?


If you use a plural noun, you must use a plural verb. The verb must 'agree' with the noun:


In my country there are a very few cars that use leaded petrol. (plural verb + plural noun)
I like studying during the day but my friend prefers studying at night. (singular noun + singular verb)




TIPS:
We use plural noun with:

• plural verbs: are, were, have, do, play, etc.: There are a lot of books on the table.
• numbers greater than one: 30 cars, 100 students
• many: It is annoying that so many buses drive past because they are full.
• the number of: The number of buses on our roads has increased each year.

*Note that we use a plural noun but a singular verb after the number of.

We use a singular noun with:

• singular verbs: is, was, has, does, plays, etc.: There is only one bedroom in the flat.
• a/an or one: a car, one student

*Note that some some nouns can look plural but are singular (news, mathematics) and some nouns have a different form in the plural (children, men, women, people)