"United States of America" ¿singular or plural?

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ESL forum > Grammar and Linguistics > "United States of America" ¿singular or plural?

"United States of America" ¿singular or plural?

crisferpi

"United States of America" ¿singular or plural?

Hi everybody.

I have a doubt (perhaps you find it a bit stupid).
Which sentence is correct:
The United States were ...
or
The United States was independent

Thanks !!!

9 Jun 2009

The U.S was ...

Bye now

9 Jun 2009

Hi crisferpi,

I think the second sentence is right .. The USA is a country ... you refer to HER as a country, so you can use the singular form of any verb.

Good luck.

9 Jun 2009

crisferpi

Thanks !!!! Smile

Smile

Some teachers in my school have had a little discussion today about thismatter.
Some of them thought that the correct answer was "was" but the other said that "States" is a plural noun so it must be "were".

Thank you for your help, I think the discussion will continue tomorrow morning Wink

Wink

9 Jun 2009

manonski (f)

Check this link if you want to continue the discussion with your fellow teachers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1535_questionanswer/page51.shtml

9 Jun 2009

mjotab

And then how can you refer to every state, I mean, can ´t you say " The United States were bound to follow that law" (meaning every one of them)?

9 Jun 2009

To mjotab,

I think you can say "Each state was .... etc." Or you can say "All the states of the union were ... " ..though I ´m not sure... maybe someone else can help.

Good luck.

9 Jun 2009

Carla Horne

Hi,

When you refer to a noun that ends in -s, and it is acting as one unit, it is singular. For example,

         The United States is a country.

                       or

         The news from the front is bad.

Here is another good link.   http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/sv_agr.htm

i hope the helps.

Carla

9 Jun 2009

dennismychina

You have two questions there.

The United States is the collective noun for all of the states of America.

So the USA (the US of A) is singular.

It’s not a country. The country’s name is America.

The united states is plural because they are all the individual states, that is if your not getting mixed up and calling the USA the US.

AS clear as mud I’m sure.

Enjoy.

9 Jun 2009

Kate (kkcat)

I remember reading that it can be ARE and IS, depends on what you want to say...the link manonski gave explains everything!

9 Jun 2009

crisferpi

Thanks

Thumbs Up

for your help !!!

10 Jun 2009

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