Singular or Plural?
Check the sentences in each pair.
- Multiple problems or multiple problem ?
- Often, we combine multiple problems into one and then look for one solution to solve them all.
- Often, we combine multiple problem into one and then look for one solution to solve them all.
- Provide or Provides
- The organization provides medical assistance to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty and disaster, both in the United States and throughout the world.
- The organization provide medical assistance to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty and disaster, both in the United States and throughout the world.
If you use a plural noun, you must use a plural verb. The verb must “agree” with the noun.
- There are bears and other animals in the woods. (Plural verb + Plural noun)
- Always in style, she prefers to wear high heels when out on the town or appearing at media events or award presentations. (Singular noun + Singular verb)
We use a plural noun with:
- plural verbs are, were, have, do, play: He had a lot of friends in Texas.
- numbers great than one: 20 classes, 50 students
- many: He visited many lands and saw many wonderful things.
- the number of: It has a large number of landlocked nations without ports to access the international markets, both for imports and exports.
NB: Note that we use plural noun but a singular verb after the number of.
We use a singular noun with:
- Singular verbs: is, was, has, does, plays, etc: There is no time to play.
- a / an or one: a desk, an apple, one teacher.
NB: Some nouns can look plural but are singular such as news and mathematics, and some nouns have a different form in the plural (Children, men, women, and people)
Based on IELTS Writing Rubrics,
You can get 7 in Grammatical Range and Accuracy when
- You use a variety of complex structures.
- Produces frequent error-free sentences.
- You should have good control of grammar and punctuation but may make a few errors.
If you are still having problems, Clark Institute of the Philippines is offering Online courses. Check them out here.
CIP Online 1: https://online.cipenglish.com/
CIP Online 2: https://cipenglish.com/
Credits and Sources: https://sentence.yourdictionary.com/ and Common Mistakes in IELTS