Hi friends, welcome to a new lesson. One of my friend is visiting me today or I don't
know maybe one of my friends is visiting me today. I'm a little confused are you confused?
Okay, so in today's lesson we have something that we're going to learn regarding plural
nouns. Now when I say plural nouns it could be nouns that look plural or are actually
plural. When I say look plural it means they always have an ‘S’ in the end, okay? And
these plural nouns are followed by singular verbs okay, a little confusing? Don't be.
So if I tell you $100 okay now $100 is plural okay you have an ‘S’ because it's more
than $1. $100 is too much money okay, you must be thinking that why aren't we using
‘are’, okay? So as per our grammar rules and things that we've learned till date, we
always believe plural nouns are followed by plural verbs. But in this case it's a little
different because when we talk about a quantity or an amount it is always followed by a singular
verb. Okay I cannot say ‘hundred dollars are too much money’. Though this is plural
okay it is always followed by a singular verb ‘is’ and not ‘are’, got it? So if
your child asks you, ‘could I have ten dollars?’ You say, ‘ten dollars is too much of pocket
money for a day.’ ‘Is’ and not ‘are’. Remember this fixed amounts and quantities
singular verb. Even though the noun is in plural, okay? ‘Thirty miles is quite a distance’.
Now similar to the above sentence I have a plural noun. Miles more than one mile, 30
miles. So again you have a plural noun here, ‘is’. You don't say, ‘30 miles are quite
a distance’, okay? Or ‘30 miles are a long way to walk’. You don't say that, you
say, ‘30 miles ‘is’. ‘Is’ is a singular verb. Okay, so we have 30 miles is quite a
distance. Remember fixed amounts and quantities even though they are plural always followed
by a singular verb. Fine, let's move to next example, ‘one of my friends’, okay? Now
first of all let's deal with ‘one of my’. So when you talk about one of my okay, let's
take an example over here okay so, there are many dots okay but if I want to tell you one
of many okay so one of the dots so I've used a plural noun okay because there are many
dots but I'm talking about one, one of many so one of my many friends okay is an athlete.
Now again if you see the plural noun is followed by a singular verb and you must be thinking
why is it so? Well it's very simple because I'm not talking about all the dots, I'm talking
about one of them so one if I kind of cover off my friends okay so I have one is an athlete,
right? So just because you have a plural noun here, you do not use a plural verb and say
one of my friends ‘are’, no that is incorrect one of my friends ‘is’. One of my favorite
dishes ‘is’, one of my favorite songs ‘is’, because I have a lot of favorite
songs but one of them ‘is’, okay? Remember that it's very important. So one of my friends
now coming to this a lot of people make this mistake they say one of my ‘friend’ is,
one of my favorite ‘song’ is, one of my ‘colleague’ is, no! That noun is always
in plural followed by a singular verb. Please remember this so the expression, one of my
‘friends’, one of my favorite ‘songs’, one of my favorite ‘dishes’, one of my
‘colleagues’… so ‘put the noun in plural followed with a singular verb’. I
hope this is very clear to you. Well I'm stressing on this because I've heard a lot of people
making this common mistake, okay? So don't do that it's very simple ‘one of’ followed
by the ‘plural noun’ followed by a ‘singular verb’. The next one, ‘bread and butter
was served for breakfast’. Now this is a bit tricky and you may say there are two items
okay, there are two food items why do we need a singular verb? Now technically it's kind
of a ‘compound noun’. A compound noun is something that always, two nouns come together
more often than not, okay? So I have probably, ‘milk and sandwiches was served for breakfast’.
‘Bread and butter was so for breakfast’. We generally use them together, okay? Socks
and shoes, okay? Things that are always used together or spoken using together, two nouns
always followed a singular, followed by a singular verb. So I cannot say bread and butter
was served for breakfast okay, though they are two, they're plural, they’re two nouns
okay, there's more than one noun but because they always come together more often than
not, they take or they are followed by a singular verb, okay? So I can say, ‘bacon and eggs
was served for dinner’ okay, so bacon and eggs, so when you use them basically expressions
with ‘and’ okay? So if I tell you ‘tea and coffee was served late’. You don't say
were served. Tea and coffee was served late. So because they come together then often come
with this expression ‘and’ okay, they take a singular verb though there are two
nouns, followed friends? Remember this. Now the next one is, ‘she has got more than
one reason to celebrate’. Let's deal with ‘more than one’. So when you use this
expression definitely it's very clear, it's so expressive, it's more than one that means
obviously there could be many reasons, there could be two or more, but she has got more
than one I am putting a plural expression, okay? And though I mean more than one reason,
remember the rule is, you put the noun in singular okay followed by the verb. So ‘she
has got’ I’ve used a ‘singular verb’, she has got more than one ‘reason’ to
celebrate not ‘reasons’, okay? So I've even put the ‘noun in plural’ but the
‘verb in singular’. Okay so though we're talking about more than one noun, keep the
noun in singular and you have a singular verb. Okay friends the next one, ‘more than one
person’ a similar example, more than one that means it could be two or more, okay?
I have used a singular noun. I have not used ‘people’, okay? I say more than one person
is followed by a singular verb going to be fired. So I have not said more than one people
are going to be fired more than one people is going to be fired this is how the expression
is more than one noun singular though it implies plural okay because we are talking about more
than one followed by a singular verb, okay? So remember this more than one singular noun,
singular verb. The next one, ‘no news, is good news’. So if a friend ask you, ‘hey,
what news?’ Or ‘What's new?’ You say, ‘no news, is good news’. Now news is often
miss perceived or wrongly perceived as a plural noun, yes it does have an ‘S’. It looks
like a plural noun but it is singular. So it stands for North, East, West and South.
So no news ‘is’, ‘are’ is completely incorrect. No news is good news okay so you
have a noun looks plural okay because it has an ‘S’ don't go by the ‘S’ and put
‘are’ or use ‘are’. No news is good news plural looking noun followed by a singular
verb. ‘Aerobics is great fun’. Similarly we don't say ‘aerobic’ we say ‘aerobics’,
okay? It looks like a plural noun plus ‘is’ is a singular verb okay so don't say ‘aerobics
are great fun’ no, ‘aerobics is’. And well the last one says, ‘economics is pretty
boring for me’. Yes I never liked the subject. So ‘economics’, ‘economic’ no. Always
with an ‘S’ but one subject it's singular looks like a plural noun because of the ‘S’
followed by a singular verb, okay? So please do not say ‘economics are’ or ‘mathematics
are’ because that is not correct. So well friends this is how we deal with plural nouns.
Follow the singular verbs. I do understand sometimes it gets a bit confusing, it's a
bit tricky and you kind of get lost and speak incorrect sentences, but well I hope this
lesson works for you and this brings me to the end of another lesson, I hope you enjoyed
watching it, I will be back soon with a new lesson till then take care and bye.