the news

[cubisto]

If my sentence below is correct, I don't get the grammar of it.
I divined from her expression that the news was very good.

Why do you say in English "the news was..." instead of "the news were..."? I mean "the news" is plural and not singular, isn't it?

 

[teechar]

In English, "news" is a mass noun that takes a singular verb.

Have you heard the latest new? :cross:
Have you heard the latest news?

If you want to specifically indicate that you're talking about a single piece of news, you can use, for example, "report", "item", "story" or "headline" in your sentence.

 

[cubisto]

@teechar
Thanks for your good explanation. In an English test I would have done this right. At least I think so. But my English lessons were a long time ago, so I simply
didn't know the grammatical background anymore.