Grammarian-bot  +  255673 Mon, 14 Aug 06 09:06 AM     http://www2.gsu.edu/%7Ewwwesl/egw/nouns/plural.htm" target="_blank" title="http://http://www2.gsu.edu/%7Ewwwesl/egw/nouns/plural.htm">http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/nouns/plural.htm According to the above mentioned website, Police is an aggregate noun. The police are still looking for the Olympic Park bomber. If it is so, then why army is always considered as a collective noun. What is the main difference between the two? GB Grammarian-bot Joined on Sun, May 7 2006 PAKISTAN Full Member 449 The best way to learn is to learn from your mistakes. Plurals, Difference Between, Nouns

	Inchoateknowledge  +  255679 Mon, 14 Aug 06 10:07 AM Police is a plural noun, can not have singular verb attached to it, thus not collective noun;  army is a singular countable one. There is no reason for why it is so. BTW, I could not download the link. Inchoateknowledge Joined on Wed, May 3 2006 Senior Member 2,549 Beep! Beep! :) Verbs, Singular Verbs, Plurals, Difference Between, Nouns

	Grammarian-bot  +  255975 Tue, 15 Aug 06 06:58 AM  Inchoateknowledge wrote: Police is a plural noun, can not have singular verb attached to it, thus not collective noun;  army is a singular countable one. There is no reason for why it is so. BTW, I could not download the link. So, it means that there are plural nouns that always take plural verbs. Can you give some other examples of plural nouns. GB Grammarian-bot Verbs, Singular Verbs, Plurals, Difference Between, Nouns

	Goodman  +  256147 Tue, 15 Aug 06 04:45 PM  Inchoateknowledge wrote: Police is a plural noun, can not have singular verb attached to it, thus not collective noun;  army is a singular countable one. There is no reason for why it is so. BTW, I could not download the link. I tend to disagree. Police is mostly considered and used as a singular collective noun  unless it’s a  situation where more than one police department is involved. We can answer questions and don’t mind doing so. However, learners may not retain the answers by memorization. Reading is the better method. Goodman Joined on Mon, Nov 7 2005 Senior Member 3,816 The name says it all! Verbs, Singular Verbs, Plurals, Difference Between, Nouns

	Grammar Geek  +  256149 Tue, 15 Aug 06 04:56 PM I'm sorry, Goodman, but police takes the plural. The police force takes a singular, but you would never say "Police is questioning the suspect" or "The police is looking for clues to the crime." You could say "A policeman is" or "The police force is" or "A member of the police" but not just "Police is." I've never thought before why we think of the police as a bunch of individuals who therefore take the plural, but the army is usually taken as a singular unit. I'm sorry that I don't have a better answer as to why. Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,671 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random! Plurals, Difference Between

	Goodman  +  256166 Tue, 15 Aug 06 05:41 PM GG, Don't mean to disappoint your arguement.  To affirm my own learning, I checked and found these:  Patrol Police is Set to Enhance the Security in Cyberjaya ... The Patrol Police adheres to the security standards of a Cybercity, whereby it takes a maximum ...       No doubt the Police has done more than enough to earn the scorn and ill-will of ... It’s best known legend, The Police is your Friend (spelt enemy) has   The Dutch police consists of 25 regional police forces and the National Police ... Each of the Netherlands' 25 police regions is headed by a regional police ... Goodman Difference Between

	Feathers  +  256168 Tue, 15 Aug 06 05:45 PM  Grammarian-bot wrote:  Inchoateknowledge wrote: Police is a plural noun, can not have singular verb attached to it, thus not collective noun;  army is a singular countable one. There is no reason for why it is so. BTW, I could not download the link. So, it means that there are plural nouns that always take plural verbs. Can you give some other examples of plural nouns? I had no idea, so I checked my grammar book.    cattle, clergy, people, police, poultry, ...   the New York Yankees, the Utah Jazz, ... Feathers Joined on Thu, Jul 6 2006 Full Member 250 Grammar, Verbs, Singular Verbs, Plurals, Difference Between, Nouns

	Grammar Geek  +  256186 Tue, 15 Aug 06 06:28 PM I so often forget to include the caveat "in American English." I know the Brits have a different approach to some collective nouns (country, company, etc.) so it should be so with "police" as well.  In American English, police is plural. Google results showed singular police used in other countries, and a great many hits for the musical group. Grammar Geek American English, Plurals, Difference Between, Nouns

	Maple  +  256211 Tue, 15 Aug 06 07:18 PM Does an Oxford dict. say things in BrE? Well, it also suggests "police" should be used as a plural. Hi, IK! I think you can open the link if you get rid of the repetitive "http://" in the address column. Maple Joined on Tue, Jul 11 2006 An ESL student in China Contributing Member 1,110 Plurals, Difference Between