The government are hoping to stop migration

[Bassim]

Have I made any mistakes. Can "migration" be used in my sentence?

The government are hoping to stop migration from rural areas to the cities by investing more in infrastructure, education, health and social services. They also believe that the introduction of super-fast broadband will help companies and ordinary people in creating more jobs.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

Well, there's one mistake at the end of the first five words of the post.

 

[Bassim]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

Should it be "the migration"?

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

I said the first five words of the post. I wasn't talking about the paragraph you want us to look at.

 

[Bassim]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

Now I understand.
I missed a question mark.
It should have been "Have I made any mistakes?"

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

Have I made any mistakes. Can "migration" be used in my sentence?

The government [STRIKE]are[/STRIKE] is hoping to stop migration from rural areas to [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] cities by investing more in infrastructure, education, health and social services in those rural areas. They also believe that the introduction of super-fast broadband will help companies and ordinary people [STRIKE]in[/STRIKE] by creating more jobs.

See above. BrE tends to treat "the government" as singular for the verb that directly follows it. However (and somewhat confusingly), we wouldn't then start the next sentence with "It believes". There, we treat the people in the government as individuals and we use the plural. Please don't ask me why!

You need to make it clear where the investment will take place.

 

[jutfrank]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

the introduction of super-fast broadband will help companies and ordinary people in creating more jobs.

What does the blue part mean exactly? Do you mean that there will be more jobs as a result of the introduction of super-fast broadband than there were prior? How do you imagine that might be?

 

[Bassim]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

Yes, I believe that the introduction of super-fast broadband will result in creating more jobs. This is the fact, because super-fast broadband means improvement in all spheres of society. Industry and services have a great use of it, and also ordinary people with super-fast broadband can work from home and use all kind of apps which can't be used with a slow connection.

 

[jutfrank]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

Yes, I believe that the introduction of super-fast broadband will result in creating more jobs. This is the fact, because super-fast broadband means improvement in all spheres of society. Industry and services have a great use of it, and also ordinary people with super-fast broadband can work from home and use all kind of apps which can't be used with a slow connection.

Okay, I just wanted to check. In that case, use by instead of in, as suggested in post #6.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

See above. BrE tends to treat "the government" as singular for the verb that directly follows it. However (and somewhat confusingly), we wouldn't then start the next sentence with "It believes". There, we treat the people in the government as individuals and we use the plural. Please don't ask me why!

You need to make it clear where the investment will take place.

But in the US, "It believes. . . ." is correct.

 

[jutfrank]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

But in the US, "It believes. . . ." is correct.

It's correct in BrE too. I disagree with post #7.

I know we've gone over this issue many times before, but I'm still convinced that any difference in usage on this point between varieties of English is often much overestimated, and oversimplified. The way that one conceives the subject of the thought one is having plays much more of a role in determining which words one uses than some people think, in my view.

Personally, I would use is and It believes, but that's not to say that are and They believe are wrong. To mix is and They believe is okay too (if not a little awkward), but it shows that you have shifted what you conceive to be the nature of the subject of what you're talking about.

Perhaps emsr2d2's preference for They believe is more to do with the use of the verb believe—it's a bit easier to imagine people believing something than to imagine the more abstract idea of a government believing something. Just a guess.

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

NamelessKing, again, please read this extract from our Posting Guidelines:

You are welcome to answer questions posted in the Ask a Teacher forum as long as your suggestions, help, and advice reflect a good understanding of the English language. If you are not a teacher, you will need to state that clearly in your post. Please note, all posts are moderated by our in-house language experts, so make sure your suggestions, help, and advice provide the kind of information an international language teacher would offer. If not, and your posts do not contribute to the topic in a positive way, they will be subject to deletion.

 

[NamelessKing]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

Got it. I'll quit commenting someone else's posts. Could you tell me if there's a difference between 'hoping' and 'hopping'?

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

Got it. I'll quit commenting someone else's posts. Could you tell me if there's a difference between 'hoping' and 'hopping'?

You don't need to stop commenting. You simply need to write "Not a teacher" at the beginning of the post if you are actually trying to answer the OP's question.

Yes, there is a big difference between "hoping" and "hopping".

 

[GoesStation]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

I'm still convinced that any difference in usage on this point between varieties of English is often much overestimated, and oversimplified.

The British tendency to use plural verbs with nouns that represent organizations really stands out to American ears. It's very common and markedly different from American usage.

 

[jutfrank]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

Can "migration" be used in my sentence?

Should it be "the migration"?

Sorry, Bassim, it seems we missed your actual questions.

Yes, migration is the right word. No, you don't need to use the.

 

[jutfrank]

Re: The government are hopping to stop migration

The British tendency to use plural verbs with nouns that represent organizations really stands out to American ears. It's very common and markedly different from American usage.

Yes, but maybe the fact that it stands out so much is partly why it is overestimated. I mean, when a Brit uses a singular verb form, as you would in American usage, you're likely not going to notice it. Very generally speaking, our brains have evolved to notice when something is different, and to give such change an attention which is often disproportionate to its due.