Page 234 - Basic English Usage

306 — 307 236

306 singular and plural: plural expressions with
singular verbs

When we talk about amounts and quantities we usually use singular
verbs, pronouns and determiners, even if the noun is plural.
Where’s that five pounds | lent you?
(NOT “here-are-thesefivepounds ... 7?)
Twenty miles is a long way to walk.
‘How much petrol have we got left?’ ‘About five litres.’ ‘That isn’t
enough. We'll have fo get some more.’
For expressions like another six weeks, see 33.3.

The expression more than one is used with a singular noun and verb.
More than one person is going to lose his job.

Expressions like one of my ... are followed by a plural noun and a
singular verb.
One of my friends is going to Honolulu.

Some expressions joined by and have singular verbs. This happens
when we think of the two nouns as ‘one thing’.
Fish and chips is getting very expensive.
(NOT Fist-and-chipsare ...)
‘War and Peace’ is the longest book I've ever read.

307 singular and plural: anybody etc
Anybody, anyone, somebody, someone, nobody, no-one, everybody
and everyone are used with singular verbs.
Is everybody ready?
(NOT Are-everybody ready?)
However, we often use they, them and theirto refer to these words,
especially in an informal style.
if anybody Calls, tell them I'm out, but take their name and address.
Nobody phoned, did they?
Somebooy left their umbrella behind yesterday. Would they please
collect it from the office?
Everybody thinks they’re different from everybody else.
They, them and their are not plural in sentences like these. They mean
‘he or she’, ‘him or her’ and ‘his or her’. In a more formal style, we usually
use he, himand his (meaning ‘he or she’, etc).
When somebody does not want to live, he can be very difficult to help.