Should That Be Singular or Plural?

32. Should That Be Singular or Plural?

Deciding when to use a plural word instead of a singular form of the same word can be complicated, especially when the noun form of a word is employed differently than the verb form of the same word. Beyond the basic agreement between subjects and their verbs (section 9), you must also decide whether a word can be plural, if it should be plural, and if it is being used as a plural noun or a verb. The verb and pronoun forms must then follow the form of the subject you have chosen to employ.

I. A person, as an individual, is always singular.

• Example: “Caesar crosses the Rubicon.”

“Crosses” is the singular present form of the verb “to cross.”

• Example: “Caesar cross the Rubicon.”

“Cross” is the plural present form of the verb “to cross.” Clearly this usage does not work.

Both of these examples relate to subject-verb agreement (section 9) because the correct structure depends on using the verb properly in relation to the subject. They are repeated here in order to remind and clarify the importance of the section.

II. A group of people can act either as a singular entity or a congregation of things depending on the context of the sentence. Note that some groups are inseparable (see subsection III) from each other, while

• Example: “The Roman Senate deliberates about Caesar's replacement.”

“The Roman Senate,” just like Caesar's Army, is an entity acting as a singular thing in this context. It is a singular noun standing in as a general subject for a more complex group or congregation of things.

• Example: “The Roman Senators deliberate about Caesar's replacement.”

“The Roman Senators” indicates a congregation or group of individual things, and so must be accompanied by plural verbs, pronouns, and adjectives.

III. Some nouns cannot be plural. These are known as “non-count” nouns, or nouns that cannot be divided into individual parts and counted. Examples are water, rain, weather, foliage, milk, senate, and a whole range of others. These nouns can never be plural, but some of them also have verb forms that can look like a plural noun—and this can sometimes lead to an improper plural usage of the noun form. You can apply a simple test to determine if you have a non-count noun:

Ask, “How many of the things are having the action done to them?”

• Example: “I drank some milk.”

“How many milks did you drink?”

• Example: “I dressed for today's weather.”

“How many weathers did you dress for?”

• Example: “Caesar instructed the senate to declare war on Gaul.”

“How many senates were instructed to declare war on Gaul?”

This can very complicated when a non-count noun also has a verb form.

• Example: “Heavy rains caused extensive flooding in ancient Mesopotamia.”

“Rains” here is used like a count noun, but it is actually a non-count noun—like “senate” or “water.” It describes a collection of individual things—in this case raindrops (which is a completely different noun)—as one singular, indivisible thing. Therefore it cannot be a plural. Think of it, in this context, as a shorter version of “rainfall,” which is another non-count noun. It's acting like a noun, but we couldn't equally say “heavy rainfalls” without immediately recognizing the awkwardness of the phrasing. This recognition becomes easier because “rainfall” is not a verb and a noun; it's only a noun and only refers to one thing—there is no such verb as “to rainfall.” “Rain,” however, can be either a verb or a noun—“the rain” or “to rain.” This dual usage of the same word can get us into trouble when we are unclear about which form—the noun or the verb—we are actually using.

We can try saying a similar sentence with a different but equivalent noun to make the point more clear:

• Example: “The senates caused extensive poverty through odious taxation policy.”

Now the problem is clear: “the senate” is a non-count noun and cannot be pluralized. It also does not have a verb form—there is no action “to senate”—which makes the problem in this example easier to recognize.

Home-Introduction

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Deciding when to use a plural word instead of a singular form of the same word can be complicated, especially when the noun form of a word is employed differently than the verb form of the same word. Beyond the basic agreement between subjects and their verbs (section 9), you must also decide whether a word can be plural, if it should be plural, and if it is being used as a plural noun or a verb. The verb and pronoun forms must then follow the form of the subject you have chosen to employ.

I.	A person, as an individual, is always singular.
	• Example: “Caesar crosses the Rubicon.”
	“Crosses” is the singular present form of the verb “to cross.”
	• Example: “Caesar cross the Rubicon.”
	“Cross” is the plural present form of the verb “to cross.” Clearly this usage does not work.
	Both of these examples relate to subject-verb agreement (section 9) because the correct structure depends on using the verb properly in relation to the subject. They are repeated here in order to remind and clarify the importance of the section.

II.	A group of people can act either as a singular entity or a congregation of things depending on the context of the sentence. Note that some groups are inseparable (see subsection III) from each other, while
	• Example: “The Roman Senate deliberates about Caesar's replacement.”
	“The Roman Senate,” just like Caesar's Army, is an entity acting as a singular thing in this context. It is a singular noun standing in as a general subject for a more complex group or congregation of things.
	• Example: “The Roman Senators deliberate about Caesar's replacement.”
	“The Roman Senators” indicates a congregation or group of individual things, and so must be accompanied by plural verbs, pronouns, and adjectives.

III.	Some nouns cannot be plural. These are known as “non-count” nouns, or nouns that cannot be divided into individual parts and counted. Examples are water, rain, weather, foliage, milk, senate, and a whole range of others. These nouns can never be plural, but some of them also have verb forms that can look like a plural noun—and this can sometimes lead to an improper plural usage of the noun form. You can apply a simple test to determine if you have a non-count noun:
	Ask, “How many of the things are having the action done to them?”
	• Example: “I drank some milk.”
	“How many milks did you drink?”
	• Example: “I dressed for today's weather.”
	“How many weathers did you dress for?”
	• Example: “Caesar instructed the senate to declare war on Gaul.”
	“How many senates were instructed to declare war on Gaul?”
	This can very complicated when a non-count noun also has a verb form.
	• Example: “Heavy rains caused extensive flooding in ancient Mesopotamia.”
	“Rains” here is used like a count noun, but it is actually a non-count noun—like “senate” or “water.” It describes a collection of individual things—in this case raindrops (which is a completely different noun)—as one singular, indivisible thing. Therefore it cannot be a plural. Think of it, in this context, as a shorter version of “rainfall,” which is another non-count noun. It's acting like a noun, but we couldn't equally say “heavy rainfalls” without immediately recognizing the awkwardness of the phrasing. This recognition becomes easier because “rainfall” is not a verb and a noun; it's only a noun and only refers to one thing—there is no such verb as “to rainfall.” “Rain,” however, can be either a verb or a noun—“the rain” or “to rain.” This dual usage of the same word can get us into trouble when we are unclear about which form—the noun or the verb—we are actually using.
	We can try saying a similar sentence with a different but equivalent noun to make the point more clear:
	• Example: “The senates caused extensive poverty through odious taxation policy.”
	Now the problem is clear: “the senate” is a non-count noun and cannot be pluralized. It also does not have a verb form—there is no action “to senate”—which makes the problem in this example easier to recognize.