Forum newsfeeds
Forum Newsfeeds


Sites for Teachers

Sites for Teachers


Go Back   UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum > Learning English > Ask a Teacher

Notices

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 19-Sep-2006, 18:35
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Country: Canada
Posts: 56
Current Location: Whistler BC
First Language: English
Member Type: Student or Learner
Thanks: 1
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Catherine C. is on a distinguished road
Default police?

The police was called?
OR
The police were called?
And why?
Tia...
Catherine C.
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 19-Sep-2006, 18:42
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Country: England.
Posts: 45
Current Location: Durham, North East England.
First Language: English.
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
RobbieCook is on a distinguished road
Default Re: police?

The police were called.

"Police" is a collective noun, meaning that "police" includes a number of people, rather than being a single entity. "Were" is used when there is more than one person/thing involved, where as "was" is used for a single person/thing.
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 19-Sep-2006, 19:14
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Country: England
Posts: 671
First Language: English
Thanks: 0
Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts
Coffa is on a distinguished road
Default Re: police?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Catherine C. View Post
The police was called?
OR
The police were called?
And why?
Tia...
Catherine C.
It is 'The police were called."

As a noun, 'the police' are plural, because they are the officers of the 'polis' - the Ancient Greek word for a city state, from which 'police' derives.

In many European Romance languages, the derivation (and the plural) is more obvious - for example, 'policia' in Spanish.
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old 19-Sep-2006, 21:12
Key Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Country: USA
Posts: 1,874
Current Location: North Carolina
First Language: English
Member Type: English Teacher
Thanks: 0
Thanked 84 Times in 76 Posts
mykwyner will become famous soon enough
Default Re: police?

In American English we usually treat our collective nouns as singular, the team was victorious, the company is bankrupt, the army is advancing however, police is always a plural in AE, also.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
police

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
collective nouns andrew crookes Ask a Teacher 2 09-Jun-2006 13:45
Christmas party season approaches - what will be expected? Archie Editing & Writing Topics 4 16-Nov-2005 11:55
police system of US emily wong General Language Discussions 2 22-Oct-2005 08:43
Compound Nouns ! FCE Student Ask a Teacher 6 19-Aug-2005 23:26


New To Site? Need Help?

All times are GMT. The time now is 14:09.


vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.2.0
Copyright © 2002 - 2008 UsingEnglish.com