Nouns that are always plural

Some nouns are always plural and take a plural verb. We normally use THE with them.

The talks are going ahead between the Government and the unions. The authorities (власти) had refused them their civil rights.

Sometimes the noun has only a plural form.

His clothes are dirty but he is actually well of. I believe congratulations are in order!

Below are some common plural nouns. (We use the with many of them).

Plural noun	Meaning/use	Example
authorities	People in charge	The British authorities are investigating the problem
conditions	The physical situation	Conditions in the prison are very poor.
Contents - содержимое, емкость	The things inside	He emptied the contents of his pocket.
foundations - фундамент	Material under a building to support it	The foundations of the building were laid ten years ago.
outskirts - окраина	Parts of the city furthest from the centre	The outskirts of the city are a very nice place to have a house.
premises- помещение, дом	Building or part of building that a shop uses	The premises are in a new office block.
races – забег на скачках	An occasion when horses race	They went for a day out at the races.
Resources – запасы, средства, ресурсы	Available money, equipment, skills, etc.	We do not have the resources to deal with the problem.
Sights - достопримечательности	Places of interest in an area	Let’s go and see the sights.
stairs- лестница	Steps inside a house	The stairs are made of wood.

We normally use MY, HER, HIS, etc. not THE with these plural nouns:

Plural noun	Example
Activities a thing that you do for interest or pleasure, or in order to achieve a particular aim:	Are you aware of our activities?
feelings	You’ve hurt her feelings.
headquarters	Their headquarters are in New York.
Likes and dislikes	We discussed our likes and dislikes.
movements  [pl.] a person’s activities over a period of time, especially as watched by sb else:	The police traced his movements.
Terms (условия соглашения)	These are our terms for ending the strike.
Travels (описание путешествия)	His travels have provided good material for a book.

 

We often use some plural nouns without an article or determiner.

Plural noun	Example
appearances	Appearances are deceptive.
congratulations	Congratulations on your wedding!
lodgings	He rented lodgings near the college.
Refreshments (закуска, освеж. напиток)	Refreshments will be served in the interval.
troops	Troops were sent to restore order.
Supplies (довольствие, содержание (денежное))	They ran out of supplies.

 

We can use some words with or without THE depending on the context:

The goods in the airport lounge are sold duty-free. Goods must be paid for before leaving.

The expenses for her trip were paid by the firm. Imagine the trip – no work and all expenses paid!

Clothes and tools

Many clothes, tools and equipment are designed with two parts joined together. We use them as plurals with –s and a plural verb:

His glasses are new. Bring me the pliers which are on the table. The scissors are in the drawer. She was wearing shorts which were too big for her. My trousers are dirty.

Other examples include:

Binoculars	Braces (подтяжки)	Compasses (циркуль (` k^mpəsɪz)
Dungarees (рабоч. брюки из грубой хб ткани)	Handcuffs (наручники)	jeans
Overalls (спецовка)	Pants (кальсоны)	pyjamas
scales	sunglasses	Tights (трико, колготки)
spectacles	Trunks (спорт. трусы)	Underpants (кальсоны, трусы (мужск))

 

To refer to a single item we say:

A pair of scissors, a pair of glasses, a pair of jeans, a pair of tights

When we use the expression a pair of with a plural noun, the verb that follows is singular if it is in the same clause and plural if it is in a relative clause:

This pair of jeans is new. I bought a pair of jeans which were much cheaper.

Collective Nouns

Collective nouns refer to a group of people or things, e.g. army, committee, team. We can think of them as either a single unit or as members of a group:

Collective noun + singular verb (a single unit)	The team is the best in the country. The council is building a new road. Our family is not very large
Collective noun + plural verb (members of the group)	The team are confident of victory. The council are voting on the issue. My family are early risers

!!! Majority believes that we are in no danger

  The majority of the students have passed the exams well.

If the word majority is used alone it is usually singular, if it is followed by a plural noun, it is plural

 

Here is a list of common collective nouns:

Army Community (общность; землячество) Crew Family Gang (бригада; артель; смена) Herd (стадо; толпа) Staff (кадры; штаты; персонал)

Audience (публика) Class Government Jury Press Team data

The BBC Committee The European Union Group Media Public (публика, общественность) The United Nations

 

These words take only a plural verb:

Cattle are kept for their meat. The people are very pleased. The police have been called in.

Exercises

I. Fill in each space with an appropriate word from the box

pair of shorts foundations scissors jury expenses  media company interests troops army supplies (довольствие)

1 You’re very lucky – travelling around the world, staying in nice hotels, all .................................................paid.

2 The mass .....................................................nowadays, TV and the press, have enormous power.

3 In the summer, you can’t go around wearing long trousers all the time. You’ll need a nice ........................................... .

4 Can you pass me those ................................................................................so I ca cut this article out of the paper?

5 The ....................................................................have weighed all the evidence and have found the accused guilty.

6 She lives alone and just needs .......................................................................... now and again, someone to talk to.

7 What are your ............................................................? I mean, do you have any hobbies? Do your play any sports?

8 Our ............................................................. are ready to attack the enemy; they have a bigger ....................................... than we have but it isn’t as well equipped with weapons and tanks.

9 We’re running out of food and water – we’ll have to telephone and ask for more ................................................ to be sent.

10. They laid the ......................................... of the building months ago but they still haven’t started to build it.

 

II. Complete the sentences with the appropriate verb, article or pronoun.

1 Physics ..............................................an interesting subject at school but I wasn’t very good at .................................... .

2 Athletics ....................................less popular before the Olympics made .................................................. fashionable.

3 Politics ..........................................by no means the only area where women are doing better but ................ …………….

is one of the most important.

4 Classics .............................................. what I wanted to study by my parents persuaded me that economics ................

…………………………more useful so I did ....................................................instead.

5 I think you hurt ........................................................feelings when you forgot to invite her to your party.

6 The goods ....................... being packed now and ............................will be delivered first thing tomorrow morning.

7 Could you tell me a bit about ................................. likes and dislikes? .............................mathematics your best subject?

8 ...............................police ........................cooperating with ...........................authorities in other countries which have a drugs problem.

9 The Government ..............................planning new taxes but ..............................don’t know yet whether their own supporters will accept such a policy.

10.The audience .................................. requested not to bring ......................................... refreshments into the auditorium.

 

Exercises

I. Complete the sentences. Put in a/an or some.

Model: I really ought to do some housework.

1 The people who camped in the filed have left _________ rubbish.

2 I’ve been working on the business plan. I’ve made _____ progress.

3 The visitors are here for two nights. They’re looking for____ accommodation.

4 That shop has ______ nice sofa.

5 You’ll have to pay extra for the taxi because you’ve got _____ luggage.

6 The flat is quite empty. I need ________ furniture.

7 I can’t possibly fit this guitar into _____ suitcase.

8 You need _____ luck to win at this game.

  

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