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My Media English Watch / Re: Let’s be firm on whether the name “Philippines” is singular or plural
« on: July 25, 2011, 10:38:06 PM »
Dear Joe,
Wikipedia uses 'Philippines' in the singular form. Actually, from time to time we read foreign accounts referring to the Philippines as a plural noun. You might come across a report which states that "The Philippines are about to enter a new phase in its search for the straight path", etc. Often we have no way of correcting (who has the email address of people like Hillary Clinton?) what to our mind, or minds, would be a grammatical error, in which case I would let it pass. In fact our ears and sensibilities are so used to the singular form that we naturally find nothing amiss with the theoretically incorrect subject-verb agreement in "The Philippines is bracing itself for another political season", etc. But even Wikipedia seems to be confused. It says "The Maldives is" but it also says "The Antilles are". I won't quarrel with non-Filipinos who say "The Philippines are". What I cannot accept, understand, appreciate -- despite my 15 years in London -- is the British way of pluralizing what is patently a singular word, just because it represents a group of people, or a team in sports. "Chelsea win!" "Manchester rally to win cup!" "England bow down to Azkals!" (For illustration purposes only, the last one). Then there are the other Britishisms that Americans and Americanese-speaking people like Filipinos would find quaint, if not grammatically awkward: "in future", "in hospital", "cater for", etc. Cheers, Ed Maranan
Wikipedia uses 'Philippines' in the singular form. Actually, from time to time we read foreign accounts referring to the Philippines as a plural noun. You might come across a report which states that "The Philippines are about to enter a new phase in its search for the straight path", etc. Often we have no way of correcting (who has the email address of people like Hillary Clinton?) what to our mind, or minds, would be a grammatical error, in which case I would let it pass. In fact our ears and sensibilities are so used to the singular form that we naturally find nothing amiss with the theoretically incorrect subject-verb agreement in "The Philippines is bracing itself for another political season", etc. But even Wikipedia seems to be confused. It says "The Maldives is" but it also says "The Antilles are". I won't quarrel with non-Filipinos who say "The Philippines are". What I cannot accept, understand, appreciate -- despite my 15 years in London -- is the British way of pluralizing what is patently a singular word, just because it represents a group of people, or a team in sports. "Chelsea win!" "Manchester rally to win cup!" "England bow down to Azkals!" (For illustration purposes only, the last one). Then there are the other Britishisms that Americans and Americanese-speaking people like Filipinos would find quaint, if not grammatically awkward: "in future", "in hospital", "cater for", etc. Cheers, Ed Maranan