Hello, fellas. Tonight we have the second session of several irregularities in subject-verb agreement.
(More: https://englishtips4u.com/2019/12/24/grammartrivia-irregularities-in-subject-verb-agreement/)
People, police, and cattle are plural nouns and followed by plural verbs, even though they do not end in –s.
Example:
Many people learn English to study overseas.
Some nouns of nationality ending in –sh, -ese, and –ch can refer to language or people, e.g., English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Portuguese, French. They can be followed by singular or plural verbs.
Examples:
Chinese is an international language.
The Chinese are hard workers.
Several adjectives can be preceded by the and used as a plural noun (with no final –s) to refer to people having the quality, e.g., the poor, the rich, the young, the elderly, the living, the dead, the blind, the deaf, the disabled.
Example:
The young want a change.
Source:
Betty Schrampfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar: Third Edition
Compiled and written by @fathrahman for @EnglishTips4U on Monday, January 6, 2019
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