Confused Am I with the Past Perfect

[revel]

Hey there!

And that is just my point. News may very well be uncountable, or a mass, or however you chose to define it as a noun, but it is singular, the pronoun we use to substitute it is singular, the verb form is singular, and any mass noun or uncountable noun is singular, since it refers to one mass. And that is what I try to get across to my students, that is where they make their mistakes.

Yes, English is a complex language on a pronunciation level. As is Spanish. Though it is supposedly phonetic in its graphic representation, it is pronounced in several different ways. An "s" may be dropped from the end of a plural noun, a "c" may be pronounced as an "s" or as a "th". English is so full of words borrowed from other languages, we often don't bother to change the spelling of that word, but we say it in the way most comfortable for our articulatory habits.

Then again, I'm talking about language we use in the classroom, and I tend to simplify almost always, so despite explaining the difference between a mass or uncountable noun and a unitary or countable noun (the majority of which are understood in concept by Spanish speakers since the majority are countable/uncountable in both English and Spanish), I expect them to correctly conjugate the verb as singular or plural in the present tense based on if the noun is singular or plural, not if it is countable or uncountable.

peace,
revel.

[Stephen Jones]

Sorry Revel but you are making an elementary mistake. "news " takes a singular verb, but if it were singular it would also have a plural and tthen take a plural verb.

Singular a dog
Plural some dogs

Uncountable: some news

A mass noun does not refer to one mass. If it did you could use the plural to refer to two masses.

Sonething can't be unountable and singular. If there's only one of it, you can count it.

[revel]

Hey!

At first I was not going to continue this ball toss, but then decided to check my dictionary, Webster's, and found that I was wrong, news is not singular! Wow!, but to my surprize, I found these words on the word:

Main Entry: news
Pronunciation: 'nüz, 'nyüz
Function: noun plural but singular in construction

I looked it up on line at Oxford but they did not give such a distinction. Despite my faith in Webster's, I'm afraid I will continue "misleading" my students with my "elementary mistake", teaching them that it is a mass and that it is singular. At least that way they will stop saying "the news are good" which is not acceptable in my classroom!

peace,
revel.

[Stephen Jones]

Teh SOED does make the same distinction as Webster, saying it is a plural noun usually singular in construction, so you are wrong in the best of transatlantic company.

You're all still wrong though. A word can't have a singular (one) without having a plural (more than one).

If news was singular you would be able to say "one news" but you can't. WE say "some bad news" like "some water" (another uncountable) and "some bananas" (countable and plural).