In Nouns^x, British English^x, Grammar^x

Hi Taka: For the many nit-picking rules of grammar, it's best to check out a more authoritative site than just an informal discussion group. For collective nouns, indeed, there is a divergence in British English and American English. They say that Brits and Americans are two peoples divided...

Hi New2grammar I've gone through the following Britsh English dictionaries and the definitions are as follows: local a person who lives in a particular place or district: The locals are very friendly. (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary) noun: locals The locals are the...

Something to chew on: THE NOTION OF STANDARD SPOKEN GRAMMAR The term ‘standard grammar’ is most typically associated with written language, and is usually considered to be characteristic of the recurrent usage of adult, educated native speakers of a language. Standard grammar ideally reveals no...

Hello, another English teacher here. I have been teaching English in China for about 2 and a half years now and also speak fluent French, decent Spanish and am learning Chinese (not as hard as you may think once you get the hang of those tones, easy grammar). Now I'll start off by saying that...

Nona The Brit wrote: In British English nouns such as 'team' can be treated as either plural or singular. Nona, I think this is more a question of your ear being accustomed to this type of construction rather than it being good grammar. To me, also a British native, it is unacceptable. Nona The...

We take a more flexible approach in British English and both ways (plural and singular) are seen as acceptable. It depends on how we are thinking of the 'group'. We say 'the group is' when we are thinking of it as one collective thing but 'the group are' when we are thinking the members of...

This is a question from Unit 87 of Cambridge University Press 的 Grammar in Use. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Listen carefully; I'm going to give you ________advice. little/ a little/ few/ a few Which one is the best answer? ...

Grammar Geek wrote: Yoong Liat, what part of it doesn't make sense to you? Is it because you are used to seeing adjectives before the noun? The original sentence (without the commas) is fine. What if it said "The food there was good"? Would that seem okay? If so, then keep expanding -...

Paco -- I'm sorry English is so frustrating! A few comments come to mind: First, I can see how it seems to you that the current chaotic state of English is a result of generations of laziness regarding grammatical rules, but I would prefer to think of it this way: the current flexibility of...

In British English (I cannot speak for American English) it is acceptable to treat collective nouns as plural. English grammar sometimes looks to the sense, rather than the form. Collective nouns may be felt by English speakers to be plural for the simple reason that they consist of more than...