Thread: The news

Well, uncountable nouns in English are always treated as singular, aren't they?
Water is a liquid.
Information is power.

Are there examples of uncountable nouns (more accurately, nouns used in an uncountable context for which we would use 'are'?

(hmm i just thought of the weird example 'trousers'/'pants' but it doesn't really fit I think..)

Of course it goes without saying that 'uncountable' is not language-independent. I remember being most amused when I found out that raisins are uncountable in Russian
I have a vague idea that, in Russian, the plural is sometimes used with uncountable nouns...?

Originally Posted by waxwing

Well, uncountable nouns in English are always treated as singular, aren't they?
Water is a liquid.
Information is power.

Are there examples of uncountable nouns (more accurately, nouns used in an uncountable context for which we would use 'are'?

(hmm i just thought of the weird example 'trousers'/'pants' but it doesn't really fit I think..)

Of course it goes without saying that 'uncountable' is not language-independent. I remember being most amused when I found out that raisins are uncountable in Russian
I have a vague idea that, in Russian, the plural is sometimes used with uncountable nouns...?

There are uncountable nouns ("news", "вода"), nouns that are always plural ("pants", "ножницы"), and I believe that there are also "uncountable plural nouns" in Russian ("деньги", technically it is plural, but one can't say e.g. "двое денег").

@Lindzi: 'kay then, understood and agreed with. But what about 'bus' then? Isn't that an abbreviation for the dative plural or 'omnia'- omnibus (for everyone)? So how would you pluralify it? Or ignoramus (1st pl.pr.ind.act. of ignorare)?

Originally Posted by Jasper May

@Lindzi: 'kay then, understood and agreed with. But what about 'bus' then? Isn't that an abbreviation for the dative plural or 'omnia'- omnibus (for everyone)? So how would you pluralify it? Or ignoramus (1st pl.pr.ind.act. of ignorare)?

The French deal with the problem easily: the pronunciation stays the same, and who cares about the weird way it is written, the latter being already pervasive in the language.

This is bound to be technically incorrect, but here is my opinion on the "news" problem:

"news" as a plural concrete noun (never used)
e.g. The news are so depressing today

"news" as a singular (obviously) abstract noun (only common usage)
e.g. The news is so depressing today

That's my understanding

*insert criticism by more erudite scholars of English*

So, in summary, is the following accurate:

news is an uncountable noun in English.

In English
All uncountable nouns are treated as singular, grammatically. Therefore, to ask whether news is singular or plural has no meaning.

In Russian
Uncountable nouns can be singular or plural grammatically (деньги being an example of the latter)

Remember, silence indicates assent

я не ронимаю английский язык

@Lindzi: May I be so bold as to suggest you don't know the answer?