28 ms·

(Unrelated/offtopic: is "are" or "is" correct in the title?)

by Xuzz 16y ago

icey 16y ago
It's a cultural difference. In the US, people refer to the named entity (is). In the UK, they refer to the collection of people that make up the entity (are).
- duck 16y ago
  I didn't know that difference and was wondering the same thing, thanks. It is funny how that subtle difference made me read the title like five times to understand it.
- ewjordan 16y ago
  Interesting, good to know. How do UK speakers deal with non-named entities? For example: My family is/are going out to the movie. The class was/were getting restless. These are common gotchas on the SAT in the US; one of their favorite tricks is using plural country names, like "The United States of America (is/are) ...", where in US English "is" is the correct version. Cheap trick that really only tests whether you've memorized ETS's stance on that particular grammar point, IMO, but that's the SAT for you...
  - mootothemax 16y ago
    "The United States of America (is/are) ...", where in US English "is" is the correct version. Interesting, I didn't know that. I'd have presumed that one would use "is" when referring to the country, and "are" when referring to the group of states. Is this incorrect? (for what it's worth, I'm from the UK ;)
  - bodhi 16y ago
    > My family is/are going out to the movie. The class was/were getting restless. In Australian English (derived from but not identical to the UK): My family is going to the movie. The class was getting restless. And the programmer's favourite: The data is corrupt.
    - bodhi 16y ago
      Sorry to reply to myself, but I actually forgot to put my main point in, which was that British English generally refers to the group itself as the entity, whereas it seems that American English refers to the group elements individually.
kylec 16y ago
Yes, the poster is from the UK where companies' names like "Posterous" are considered plural: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences#Formal_and_notional_agreement http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_di...
deleted 16y ago
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(Unrelated/offtopic: is "are" or "is" correct in the title?)

by Xuzz 16y ago

(Unrelated/offtopic: is "are" or "is" correct in the title?)

icey 16y ago

It's a cultural difference. In the US, people refer to the named entity (is). In the UK, they refer to the collection of people that make up the entity (are).

duck 16y ago
I didn't know that difference and was wondering the same thing, thanks. It is funny how that subtle difference made me read the title like five times to understand it.
ewjordan 16y ago
Interesting, good to know. How do UK speakers deal with non-named entities? For example: My family is/are going out to the movie. The class was/were getting restless. These are common gotchas on the SAT in the US; one of their favorite tricks is using plural country names, like "The United States of America (is/are) ...", where in US English "is" is the correct version. Cheap trick that really only tests whether you've memorized ETS's stance on that particular grammar point, IMO, but that's the SAT for you...
- mootothemax 16y ago
  "The United States of America (is/are) ...", where in US English "is" is the correct version. Interesting, I didn't know that. I'd have presumed that one would use "is" when referring to the country, and "are" when referring to the group of states. Is this incorrect? (for what it's worth, I'm from the UK ;)
- bodhi 16y ago
  > My family is/are going out to the movie. The class was/were getting restless. In Australian English (derived from but not identical to the UK): My family is going to the movie. The class was getting restless. And the programmer's favourite: The data is corrupt.
  - bodhi 16y ago
    Sorry to reply to myself, but I actually forgot to put my main point in, which was that British English generally refers to the group itself as the entity, whereas it seems that American English refers to the group elements individually.

kylec 16y ago

Yes, the poster is from the UK where companies' names like "Posterous" are considered plural: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences#Formal_and_notional_agreement http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_di...

deleted 16y ago

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