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Sarah Posted 23 years ago
Grammar

Population

Can you tell me which is correct:
'the UK's population is' or 'the UK's population are'?
  

Top answer

I think 'population' is uncountable and therefore it's grammatically correct to say 'the UK's population is'. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!

  • I think 'population' is uncountable and therefore it's grammatically correct to say 'the UK's population is'.
  • I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!
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4 Answers
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I think 'population' is uncountable and therefore it's grammatically correct to say 'the UK's population is'.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!
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Hi
Though the word Population is often used as an uncountable noun as Beth says, it can also be considered as a countable group/collective noun (we see 'population' as a whole unit, not as many individuals). When it is considered as a group noun, we use the singular form of the verb, i.e.....IS.
So, as you both said....The UK's population IS....is correct.
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The UK's population is?
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I think it can depend on what follows, e.g.

The population is wiser than you think. (You are thinking if the population as a whole)

The population are idiots. (You are thinking of the individual members of the population)

There is no hard and fast rule about whether collective nouns take a singular or plural verb.

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