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Magda Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
Fire brigade was/were
Hi,
Should fire brigade be treated in the same way as police? I mean, should it rather take plural verb?
"The fire brigade were putting out the fire."
Thank you
Should fire brigade be treated in the same way as police? I mean, should it rather take plural verb?
"The fire brigade were putting out the fire."
Thank you
Top answer
You have the option, depending on whether you are thinking of a single unit or a lot of firefighters. Police is an exceptional case, actually: we do not use the singular with them.
- You have the option, depending on whether you are thinking of a single unit or a lot of firefighters.
- Police is an exceptional case, actually: we do not use the singular with them.
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4 Answers
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You have the option, depending on whether you are thinking of a single unit or a lot of firefighters. Police is an exceptional case, actually: we do not use the singular with them.
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A new question arise!
May I treat "The Police" as an institution and use singular form for it, or must I use "The Police" as always-plural word?
Example: "The Police is fairly effective at thief catching" - as a singular.
Or only: "The Police are fairly effective thief-catchers".
Thanks in advance.
May I treat "The Police" as an institution and use singular form for it, or must I use "The Police" as always-plural word?
Example: "The Police is fairly effective at thief catching" - as a singular.
Or only: "The Police are fairly effective thief-catchers".
Thanks in advance.
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Police belongs to a small group of words which are always plural even if they sport no terminal -s: cattle, people, poultry. livestock and one or two more.
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