St Mark's Cathedral - Eiffel Tower - Trafalgar Square

1. _Trafalgar_ Square is in London.

2..................... is in Paris.

3..................... is in Rome.

4..................... is in London.

5..................... is in New York.

6..................... is in Washington.

7..................... is in Athens.

8..................... is in Athens. 

 

3 Choose the correct form, with or without the.

1. Have you ever been to _British Museum/the British Museum._ (the... is correct)

2. _Hyde Park/The Hyde Park_ is a very large park in central London.

3. Another park in central London is _St James's Park/the St James's Park._

4. _Grand Hotel/The Grand Hotel_ is in _Baker Street/the Baker Street._

5. We flew to New York from _Gatwick Airport/the Gatwick Airport_ near London.

6. Frank is a student at _Liverpool University/the Liverpool University._

7. If you're looking for a good clothes shop, I would recommend _Harrison's/the Harrison's._

8. If you're looking for a good pub, I would recommend _Ship Inn/the Ship Inn._

9. _Statue of Liberty/The Statue of Liberty_ is at the entrance to _New York harbour/the New York harbour._

10. You should go to _Science Museum/the Science Museum._ It's very interesting,

11. John works for IBM/the IBM now. He used to work for _British Telecom/the British Telecom._ 12. 'Which cinema are you going to this evening?' '_Classic/The Classic._'

13. I'd like to go to China and see _Great Wall/the Great Wall._

14. Which newspaper shall I buy--_Independent/the Independent_ or _Herald/the Herald_?

15. This book is published by _Cambridge University Press/the Cambridge University Press._

 

A. Sometimes we use a plural noun for one thing that has two parts. For example: trousers (two legs), also jeans/tights/shorts/pants/pyjamas (top and bottom)/glasses (or spectacles)/binoculars/scissors. These words are plural, so they take a plural verb: * My trousers are too long. (not 'is too long') You can also use a pair of + these words: * Those are nice jeans. or That's a nice pair of jeans. (not 'a nice jeans') * I need some new glasses. or I need a new pair of glasses.

B. Some nouns end in -ics but are not usually plural. For example: athletics, gymnastics, mathematics (or maths), physics, electronics, economics, politics: * Gymnastics is my favourite sport. News is not plural * What time is the news on television? (not 'are the news').

Some words ending in -s can be singular or plural. For example: means: a means of transport, many means of transport. series: a television series, two television series. species: a species of bird, 200 species of bird

C. Some singular nouns are often used with a plural verb. For example: government, staff, team, family, audience, committee, company, firm. These nouns are all groups of people. We often think of them as a number of people (= 'they'), not as one thing (= 'it'). So we often use a plural verb: * The government (= they) want to increase taxes. * The staff at the school (= they) are not happy with their new working conditions. In the same way, we often use a plural verb after the name of a sports team or a company: * Scotland are playing France next week (in a football match). * Shell have increased the price of petrol. A singular verb (The government wants.../Shell has... etc.) is also possible. We always use a plural verb with police: * The police have arrested a friend of mine. (not 'The police has') * Do you think the police are well-paid? Note that a person in the police is 'a policeman/a policewoman/a police officer' (not 'a police').

D. We do not often use the plural of person ('persons'). We normally use people (a plural word): * He's a nice person. but They are nice people. * Many people don't have enough to eat. (not 'doesn't have') E. We think of a sum of money, a period of time, a distance etc. as one thing. So we use a singular verb: * Twenty thousand pounds (= it) was stolen in the robbery. (not 'were stolen') * Three years (= it) is a long time to be without a job. (not 'Three years are...') * Six miles is a long way to walk every day.

 

EXERCISES

1 Complete the sentences using a word from Sections A or B. Sometimes you need a or some.

1. My eyes aren't very good. I need _glasses._

2. This plant is _a_ very rare _species._

3. Footballers don't wear trousers when they play. They wear.....................

4. The bicycle is.................... of transport.

5. The bicycle and the car are.................... of transport.

6. I want to cut this piece of material. I need.....................

7. Ann is going to write.................... of articles for her local newspaper.

8. There are a lot of American TV.................... shown on British television.

9. While we were out walking, we saw 25 different.................... of bird.

 

2 In each example the words on the left are connected with an activity (for example, a sport or an academic subject). Write the name of the activity. Each time the beginning of the word is given.

1. calculate, algebra, equation: mathematics.

2. government, election, minister: p....................

3. finance, trade, industry: e....................

4. running, lumping, throwing: a....................

5. light, heat, gravity: ph....................

6. exercises, somersault, parallel bars: gy....................

7. computer, silicon, chip, video games: el....................

 

3 Choose the correct form of the verb, singular or plural. In one sentence either the singular or plural verb is possible.

1. Gymnastics _is/are_ my favourite sport. ('is' is correct)

2. The trousers you bought for me _doesn't/don't_ fit me.

3. The police _want/wants_ to interview two men about the robbery last week.

4. Physics _was/were_ my best subject at school.

5. Can I borrow your scissors? Mine _isn't/aren't_ sharp enough.

6. Fortunately the news _wasn't/weren't_ as bad as we expected.

7. Where _does/do_ your family live? 8. Three days _isn't/aren't_ long enough for a good holiday.

9. I can't find my binoculars. Do you know where _it is/they are?_

10. Do you think the people _is/are_ happy with the government?

11. _Does/Do_ the police know how the accident happened?

12. I don't like very hot weather. Thirty degrees _is/are_ too warm for me.

 

4 Most of these sentences are wrong. Correct them where necessary; Put 'RIGHT' if the sentence is already correct.

1. The government want to increase taxes. _RIGHT (wants' is also correct)_

2. Susan was wearing a black jeans.

3. Brazil are playing Italy in a football match next Wednesday.

4. I like Martin and Jill. They're very nice persons.

5. I need more money than that. Ten pounds are not enough.

6. I'm going to buy a new pyjama.

7. The committee haven't made a decision yet.

8. Many people has given up smoking.

9. There was a police standing at the corner of the street.

10. Has the police arrived yet?

11. This scissors is not very sharp.