[General] renovations are being made

[rainous]

One of the most tricky things for me in learning English is the issue of singular and plural.

"Renovations are being made right now."

In this sentence, does the subject have to be in plural form or is it a matter of preference and ok to make it singular?

I want to know whether it's just the way people speak and write or if there is a logic behind making it plural.

 

[allenman]

In this case and this form you HAVE to use the plural. If you said "I am doing A renovation" then it would be singular.

Not a teacher -- AmE native

 

[rainous]

In this case and this form you HAVE to use the plural. If you said "I am doing A renovation" then it would be singular.

Not a teacher -- AmE native

Let me put my question another way. It seems to me that when I say "renovations" (say, of a house) the word implies that the house is under a series of, different types of renovations going on here and there in the house. My question is what about when I want to refer to only one specific part of the renovations (say fixing the pipe in the house). Do I still have to use the plural?

"A renovation is being made" is wrong no matter what?

 

[Rover_KE]

"A renovation is being made" is wrong no matter what?

It's not wrong, but a native speaker would not say that.

We'd say 'I've got the builders in', 'We're having the house rewired', 'The bathroom's being retiled' etc.

Rover