There is no news OR There are no news

Question

Which of sentences below is valid/invalid?1. There is no news.2. There are no news.Q.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Which of sentences below is valid/invalid? 1. There is no news. 2. There are no news.[/nq]
Under the entry for "news" in the *Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary* at www.m-w.com at
"http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=news

the editors note: "Function: noun plural but singular in construction. " This means that grammatically the word is treated as singular. Thus, "There is no news." is the correct choice.

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]the editors note: "Function: noun plural but singular in construction. " This means that grammatically the word is treated as singular. Thus, "There is no news." is the correct choice.[/nq]
But would you say "I've some good news..." or only "I've good news" ??? In the first case the use of 'some' would indicate plural... ???

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Which of sentences below is valid/invalid? 1. There is no news. 2. There are no news. Q.[/nq]
I would use 1. There is no news.
By the way, we usualy say "No news is good news". Therefore, I vote number 1.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]the editors note: "Function: noun plural but singular in ... singular. Thus, "There is no news." is the correct choice.[/nq]
[nq:1]But would you say "I've some good news..." or only "I've good news" ??? In the first case the use of 'some' would indicate plural... ???[/nq]
Not at all: "some" can be used for both countables and non-countables - some coins, some money. In modern English "news" is always singular: "this news", not "these news". There is no noun "new" in English, and I can't even accept that "news" is plural in form - it simply looks as though it might be. You can say either "I have some good news" or "I have good news", though the latter sounds rather literary or formal. If you need specifically to imply that there are several items of news, you have to use "several" or say something like "I have good news about all three events".

I see that you are posting from Germany. A (perhaps similar) singular/plural difficulty exists for German speakers who write "informations", which is simply not English. Again, one has to say "several pieces of information", or "information of various kinds" or some such roundabout expression.

Alan Jones

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]But would you say "I've some good news..." or only ... first case the use of 'some' would indicate plural... ???[/nq]
[nq:1]Not at all: "some" can be used for both countables and non-countables -some coins, some money. In modern English "news" is always singular: "thisnews", not "these news". There is no noun "new" in English, and I can't even[/nq]
There is a noun "new" in English, but it is a relatively rare word, and it isn't used to mean "information":
From the entry for "new" in the dictionary at www.infoplease.com at

http://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/new
" n.
"something that is new; a new object, quality, condition, etc.: Ring out the old, ring in the new."
[nq:1]accept that "news" is plural in form - it simply looks as though it might be. You can say either ... English. Again, one has to say "several pieces of information", or "information of various kinds" or some such roundabout expression.[/nq]
Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]coins, some money. In modern English "news" is always singular: "this news", not "these news".[/nq]
Interesting, but what if you went over to someone and you had two or more news to tell, such as "my cat built a brick wall the other day" and "my neighbour's dog had kittens yesterday," then what? Still singular?
Quivis.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]There is no noun "new" in English[/nq]
[nq:1]There is a noun "new" in English, but it is a relatively rare word, and it isn't used to mean ... http://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/new " n. "something that is new; a new object, quality, condition, etc.: Ring out the old, ring in the new."[/nq]
Is "new" here just an adjective qualifying a noun that has been omitted? In context, "Ring out the old, ring in the new" refers to the year, but by the end of the poem it's clear than Tennyson means also "old ways of thought and of behaving". The omission of the nouns enables him to make this transition by implication rather than statement, so that the New Year's Eve bells gradually gain a moral significance.
Nevertheless I agree that "new" in this sense is treated grammatically as a noun.
Alan Jones

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]the editors note: "Function: noun plural but singular in ... singular. Thus, "There is no news." is the correct choice.[/nq]
[nq:1]But would you say "I've some good news..." or only "I've good news" ??? In the first case the use of 'some' would indicate plural... ???[/nq]
How do you parse "I've got some new trousers'?

John Dean
Oxford

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]coins, some money. In modern English "news" is always singular: "this news", not "these news".[/nq]
[nq:1]Interesting, but what if you went over to someone and you had two or more news to tell, such as "my cat built a brick wall the other day" and "my neighbour's dog had kittens yesterday," then what? Still singular?[/nq]
It isn't possible to have "two news" to tell, because "news" in standard modern English is both a singular and an uncountable noun. That means that it can't be used with "a" or a number such as "two", or with "many" or "few", though it can be used with "some" or "more" or "less". Think of "money" and "coins". "Coins" is countable: one can say "several coins" or "three coins" but not "several moneys" or "three moneys"; so "money" is an uncountable noun. (There is a specialist use of "moneys" in law and accountancy, but that's not everyday English).
In your example, you would simply say "I have news for you",and then go on "My cat .. and that's not all - my neighbour's dog .." If you really need a plural, you have to say something like "items of news" or "news items", but in practice that isn't often necessary.

Words that work in similar ways (singular, non-countable) include "advice","information" and "help" (though NB that each of these has a countable specialist use: e.g. a "help" can be an assistant, an "advice" can be an instruction to a bank).
Alan Jones

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]But would you say "I've some good news..." or only ... first case the use of 'some' would indicate plural... ???[/nq]
[nq:1]How do you parse "I've got some new trousers'?[/nq]
This is also confusing me: If you got some new trousers, i assume you got 'several items' of new trousers.
What would you say if you had got one new 'item':
1) I've got a (or one) new trousers
2) I've got (some) new trousers (how would i know that you only got one newitem without having additional information?)
But I think it's not the same case like 'news'. As Alan pointed out 'news' is an uncountable word but 'trousers' is a countable word, isn't it? In any case I'm able to count the trousers in my cupboard ;-)

Mario

There is no news OR There are no news

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