ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: News

Yoong Liat — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:17:35 GMT

Yoong Liat wrote:
Marius Hancu wrote:
That's according to your source, not mine (M-W).

Old fashioned stuff. Things change. 10% is plural in usage on Google.

Yes, I agree. Long, long ago, 'news' was plural'. However, we must keep up with the change. 'Forty' was spelled 'forty' many, many years ago. Do you want to spell 'forty' as 'fourty'?

Re: News

Liveinjapan — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:05:39 GMT

Hi Amy

>However, even when it means "many pieces of news', it is used with a singular verb.

Do you mean 'a three pieces of news are reported' is incorrect? If so, this is a little different to an uncountable noun, isn't it? Because we can use both an uncountable noun and a plural verb with the words like 'three pieces of',right?

LiJ

Edit: After checking on Google, I understand what you mean. I think news works as an uncountable noun. Thanks.
I should've read your comment carefully :You cannot count 'news' unless you say something such as 'a piece of news. Thanks

Re: News

Yankee — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 11:46:38 GMT

The noun 'news' is plural in form but used with a singular verb. You cannot count 'news' unless you say something such as 'a piece of news'. The word 'news' alone can mean 'one piece of news' or 'many pieces of news'. However, even when it means "many pieces of news', it is used with a singular verb.

The only time I can think of when 'news' might be used with a plural verb is when 'news' is part of the name of an organization such as 'BBC News'. If you find "BBC News are" then you would be referring to the people who work at BBC News, or the rest of the sentence might go something like this: "Archived reports from BBC News are ..."

M-W online words it this way:
news
Function: noun plural but singular in construction

Cambridge categorizes 'news' as uncountable.

Both work for me.

Re: News

Yoong Liat — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:52:02 GMT

Marius Hancu wrote:
That's according to your source, not mine (M-W).

Old fashioned stuff. Things change. 10% is plural in usage on Google.

Yes, I agree. Long, long ago, 'news' was plural'. However, we must keep up with the change. 'Forty' was spelled 'forty' many, many years ago. Do you want to spell 'forty' as 'fourty'?

Re: News

Marius Hancu — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:44:53 GMT

That's according to your source, not mine (M-W).

Old fashioned stuff. Things change. 10% is plural in usage on Google.

Re: News

Yoong Liat — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:34:20 GMT

Marius Hancu wrote:
Function:noun plural but singular or plural in construction

Hi Marius

Reproduced below is the definition of 'news'. It is an uncountalbe noun.

Definition

news Show phonetics

noun [Uncountable]
1 information or reports about recent events:
That's the best (piece of) news I've heard for a long time!
We've had no news of them since they left for Australia.
Have you heard the news about Tina and Tom? They're getting divorced.
Do write and tell us all your news.
[+ that] The news that Madge had resigned took everyone by surprise.
We've got some good news for you. We're getting married.

Re: News

Marius Hancu — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:15:39 GMT

Function:noun plural but singular or plural in construction

Re: News

Yoong Liat — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 04:34:40 GMT

Feebs11 wrote:
News is a plural noun always used with a singular verb, meaning information about recent events or happenings, especially as reported by newspapers, periodicals, radio, or television.

Hi Feebs

I was taught that 'news' is an uncountable noun.

Re: News

Liveinjapan — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 04:05:18 GMT

Thank you Feebs. I'll never say What are today's news?

Re: News

Feebs11 — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 03:44:27 GMT

News is a plural noun always used with a singular verb, meaning information about recent events or happenings, especially as reported by newspapers, periodicals, radio, or television.

News

Liveinjapan — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 03:19:32 GMT

What is today's news?

What are today's news?

Are they both correct?

Thanks
LiJ