.....What is the correct use of

[keenontranslation]

<font size="5">السلام عليكم <br /><br /><br /><br />I have noticed sometimes that the USA as a noun is used as plural and sometimes as singular especially in the media.<br /><br />like in :<br /><br />The US are ready to strike ....<br />The US is confident that ...<br /><br />Which one is correct and why?<br /><br />If we take into account that The EU ( Europpean Union) is used exclusively as singular.<br />Shouldn't we consider the US as one entity or federation and thus treat it as one compound.<br /><br />In case we consider it as singular why can't we extend this to other compound nouns such as <br /><br /><br /><font color="#000000">police is ( as one body) instead of are</font> ..<br /><br />The same thing can be said in french where you find these nouns used sometimes with singular and sometimes with plural.<br /><br />Les Etats Unis se sont dits .....<br />Les Etats est pret a ......<br /><br /><br />In Arabic we do not have this problem.<br /><br /><br />Looking forward to your feedback.</font><br /><br /><br />

[BashirShawish]

_MD_RE: .....What is the correct use of

<p class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; direction: ltr; unicode-bidi: embed; text-align: left"><span style="color: blue"><font color="#0000ff">Some nouns in English can be used to refer to one person or to a group of persons. You can say: My family is poor or My family are poor depending on whether you<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>view your family as one unit or as consisting of different persons. Such nouns are called 'collective nouns' . You can talk about a team<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>has won the match or Our team have won the match. Also You can say :The BBC have shown the programme<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>meaning The people of the BBC or The BBC has shown the programme<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">   </span>viewing the BBC as a single unit. The same thing is true of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>The US as a country. You can view it as a single unit and you say The US is ... or The US are ...You use the latter,I think, to refer to the government of the US or The people of the US.</font><p><font color="#0000ff"></font></p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; direction: ltr; unicode-bidi: embed; text-align: left"><span style="color: blue"><font color="#0000ff">I do not think it<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>is a matter of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>correct or not correct. Both uses are acceptable as far as I know. I am not a native speaker of English, though.</font><p></p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; direction: ltr; unicode-bidi: embed; text-align: left"><span style="color: blue">I hope you find this useful.<p></p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; direction: ltr; unicode-bidi: embed; text-align: left"><span style="color: blue"><p></p></span></p>

[keenontranslation]

_MD_RE: .....What is the correct use of

<p>Thank you very much indeed for theses clarifications Mr. Bashir.</p><p></p><p>All what you have mentioned does make sense, but the rule does not apply, as far as i know, on other nouns such as :<br />The EU or the police, i have never heard the police is..... or the EU are......<br /><br />it just sounds awkward when you hear a sentence like :<br /><br />The USA are accusing Iran of incooperation.<br /><br />the ARE is getting on my nerves !!<br /> <br /><br />Thank you anyway for your extensive reply.</p>