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Tricky plurals

In English there are a few “tricky” plurals.

1 Some nouns ending in “S” need a verb in the singular

E.g. Is the news good?

Some of these nouns refer to disciplines ( mathematics, physics, logistics, politics, computer studies, etc),

others to diseases ( the mumps, the measles).

2 Some collective nouns have singular forms but are followed by plural verbs.

This means they have singular forms but a plural connotation . For example: police, people, cattle.

E.g. People were queueing up in front of the ticket office

3 Others are the same both in the singular and in the plural . Here are a few: deer , sheep, aircraft, sheep , moose.

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English exercise "Tricky plurals" created by carlabice47 with The test builder. [More lessons & exercises from carlabice47]
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1. If politics considered the art of looking for trouble, politicians are troublemakers!

2. The police driving to the crime scene with sirens wailing.

3. Three deer grazing the grass and eating my leftovers right beneath my window.

4. Measles a very dangerous, extremely contagious disease especially for adults as complications are very common.

5. What the news ? Good or bad ?

6. On that farm in California cattle only grass-fed.

7. Many light aircraft used to carry tourists from and to Margarita Island.

8. How many fish there in your basket?

9. Physics my favourite subject : it is a branch of scientific studies which implies analysis and laboratory observation.

10. In grammar schools, the sheep separated from the goats : in fact only the more brilliant go on to university.

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