Plurals

The plural form of most nouns is created simply by adding the letter s. But a handful of nouns appear to be plural in form but take a singular verb:

The news is bad.
Gymnastics is fun to watch.

-Though the words end with the letter s, they are not plural. Instead, they count as one subject as a whole for other things.


Numerical expressions are usually singular, but can be plural if the individuals within a numerical group are acting individually:

Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money.
One-half of the faculty is retiring this summer.
One-half of the faculty have doctorates.
Fifty percent of the students have voted already.


When a noun names the title of something or is a word being used as a word, it is singular whether the word takes a singular form or not.

Faces is the name of the new restaurant downtown.
Okies, which most people regard as a disparaging word, was first used to describe the residents of Oklahoma during the 1930s.
Chelmsley Brothers is the best moving company in town.
Postcards is my favorite novel.