Singular and plural

Things made of two matching parts use a plural noun and a plural verb, even when there is only one item: trousers, jeans, shorts, pyjamas, glasses, sunglasses, scissors, headphones. To count them, use a pair of / two pairs of.

• These jeans are too tight.

  not: is

• Where are my glasses? I can't find them.

• I bought a pair of shorts and two pairs of socks.

• This pair of scissors is really sharp.

  the subject is pair → is

💡In many languages these are single objects, so learners often write a jeans or my glasses is. In English these words have no singular form — use a pair of or some: I need some new glasses / a new pair of glasses.

• news is uncountable: The news is good. One item: a piece of news (not: a news).
• Subjects and fields ending in -ics: maths (AmE: math), physics, economics, politics, athletics, gymnastics → singular verb: Physics is hard. (When politics means “someone's political opinions”, it can be plural.)
• means, series, species have the same form in the singular and plural: a TV series → two TV series; a means of transport → many means of transport.

• The news is on at seven.

• I have some good news for you.

  not: a good news

• Economics is my favourite subject.

• This drama series is very popular in Vietnam.

family, team, staff, government, company, class, audience, committee are groups of people. In British English the verb can be singular (the group as one unit) or plural (the members as individuals). American English usually uses the singular.

police and people always take a plural verb. For one person: a police officer, a person (not: a police). The usual plural of person is people; persons appears only in formal texts (signs, laws).

• The team is / are training hard for the final.

  BrE: both; AmE: is

• The police are looking for the driver.

  not: is

• Her brother is a police officer.

• There were a lot of people at the market.

💡Once you choose singular or plural, stay consistent in the sentence: The team is happy with its result / The team are happy with their result.

When you think of a sum of money, a period of time or a distance as one amount, use a singular verb, even though the noun has -s.

• Two hundred dollars is a lot for a pair of shoes.

  not: are

• Three years is a long time to wait.

• Five kilometres isn't far. Let's walk.

But if you think of the separate units going by, a plural verb is still natural: Ten years have passed since we left school.

• ✗My new jeans is too long.

  ✓My new jeans are too long.

  jeans is a plural noun.

• ✗I need a new trouser.

  ✓I need new trousers / a new pair of trousers.

  No singular form; use a pair of.

• ✗The news are very bad today.

  ✓The news is very bad today.

  news is uncountable.

• ✗The police is coming.

  ✓The police are coming.

  police always takes a plural verb.

• ✗There were many persons at the party.

  ✓There were many people at the party.

  The normal plural of person is people.

• ✗Physics are difficult.

  ✓Physics is difficult.

  A subject ending in -ics → singular.