You are posting comments too quickly. Over time, usage changed in American English, so that these collective nouns became construed as singular. Refresh your page, login and try again. Four years later, clergyman G. H. Emerson wrote that "the change from the plural to the singular was vital, though it has taken a War of Rebellion to make the difference unmistakable." See Who Clare Crawley Kicked to the Curb During Her Final Rose Ceremony on, #75Hard Is the Fitness Challenge of the Year, but This Is What Experts Want You to Know Before You Try It, Congrats to the 'Happy Anywhere' Couple!
Your use of this website constitutes and manifests your acceptance The United States of America, or U.S.A., is a country in North America. On Independence Day, there's no better time to reflect on how the rise of America's national unity was mirrored by its grammatical unity, as "the United States" turned into a singular noun. Whoops! Slow down. Do not sell my personal information. We've Got Tons of Info to Help You Decide. Please try again. For Presidents' Day: Where Did "President" Come From Anyway? You write that "the United States" turned into a singular noun. We're coming up on the Fourth of July, when the United States is full of barbecues, fireworks, parades, and competitive hot dog eating.
Now I understand the historical evolution of this usage. Sorry, comments are currently closed. It looks as though you’ve already said that. Tips. (In British English, collective nouns can still take plural verb forms.) 200 Best Crock Pot Recipes and Easy Slow Cooker Dinner Ideas for the Family, 100+ Weight Watchers Recipes with WW Points to Help You Lose Weight, Which One of These 100 Diets Could Help You Lose Weight? (Brighton United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), (Wallington, Surrey United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). Get ’Em Here!
You can see the persistence of the traditional plural treatment of "the United States" in the 13th Amendment, ratified at war's end in 1865: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Celebrity interviews, recipes and health tips delivered to your inbox. And after the war, it was always "the United States is," as we say today without being self-conscious at all. I always took it for granted that the use of singular verbs with "the United States" was just one another example of the North American penchant. Your use of this website constitutes and manifests your acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy, Cookie Notification, and awareness of the California Privacy Rights. Why Don't We Keep Daylight Saving Time All Year? Thanks for signing up!
The tide had finally turned — four decades after the Civil War. Why Don’t We Keep Daylight Saving Time All Year? ", Rather than just accepting such sweeping claims, one writer sought to track the actual shift in usage from "the United States are" to "the United States is." That's why I'm looking forward to the new edition of Write it Right to be published later this year, edited and annotated by Jan Freeman, language columnist for the Boston Globe. (Bierce might have been a stick in the mud on this issue a century ago, but he was an entertaining stick in the mud nonetheless. Inspiration. Click here to read more articles by Ben Zimmer. Uh-oh! “The dramatic, high-stakes story of those who felt compelled to confront and try to contain the most powerful man in the world as he shredded norms and sought to expand his power.” Donald Trump v. The United States: Inside the Struggle to Stop a President . Copyright ©1998-2020 Thinkmap, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May I suggest that the key is to be found in the capitalisation (US - capitalization!)? (Central … Click here to login. The capital "T" of "The" calls attention to the fact that all three words are to be treated as a single entity. of our.
Thank you. In fact, the "United States is/are" debate raged for decades and was hardly settled by the surrender of the Confederacy. He's always a pleasure to read even when he's dead wrong. Very interesting! A Look into the Electoral College. As a Canadian now living in Europe and frequently doing business in the UK, I am often confronted with collective nouns being used with plural verbs... "British Airways are having a seat sale", for example. Rather than just accepting such sweeping claims, one writer sought to track the actual shift in usage from "the United States are" to "the United States is." Celeb interviews, recipes, wellness tips and horoscopes delivered to your inbox daily. "The United States" also went the singular route, but its path was complicated by the plural ending -s at the end of "States.".
The writer insisted that this was correct usage on grammatical grounds: "Thoroughly as one may believe in the idea of nationality, one cannot ignore the structural principles of the English language." Recipes. What Word, When You Add a Syllable to It, Becomes Shorter? By creating an account, you accept the terms and Copyright law, as well as other applicable federal and state laws, the content on this website may not be reproduced, distributed, displayed, transmitted, cached, or otherwise used, without the prior, express, and written permission of Athlon Media Group. Slow down. What’s the difference between America and the United States? Foster shoots down the popular notion that the Civil War was wholly responsible for the change in thinking. It is, in fact, the United States of America (the USA). The United States by Michael Schmidt. Grammatically, it was spoken that way and thought of as a collection of independent states. http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2007/07/collective-noun-agreement.html.
Please check your email to confirm your subscription. In other words, we understand “The United States” as “the country consisting of united states” in modern English and use singular verbs after it, as in In his peevish compendium Write it Right, Bierce griped, "Grammar has not a speaking acquaintance with politics, and patriotic pride is not schoolmaster to syntax.".
100 Inspiring Quotes on Love and Marriage. But Bierce was on the losing side of that argument. In 1901, former secretary of state John W. Foster contributed an article to the New York Times finding that the transformation from plural to singular was a slow and messy one. Today's grammar grouches could learn a thing or two from ol' Ambrose.).
Ad Choices. Already a subscriber? The surrender of Mr. Davis and Gen. Lee meant a transition from the plural to the singular." It made us an "is. An email has been sent to you. I've written about this at.
Empty comment. Incorrect email or username/password combination. In 1901, former secretary of state John W. Foster contributed an article to the New York Times finding that the transformation from plural to singular was a slow and messy one. The term America (or the Americas) refers to all the lands in the Western Hemisphere, comprising the continents of North America and South America. How Are You Celebrating National Grammar Day.
Does Your Vote Count? You seem to be logged out. In either case, it DOES indicate the name of the country, so it should, at least now, be the United States IS. As late as 1909, Ambrose Bierce was clinging to this grammatical defense of "the United States" as plural. The term America (or the Americas) refers to all the lands in the Western Hemisphere, comprising the continents of North America and South America. Those that say "these United States" refer to the federation of states they happen to be in, those that say "those United States" refer to one or more of the other state federations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_republic). (Central America is actually part of the North American continent.) The late historian Shelby Foote repeated an oft-told tale for the popular documentary series The Civil War (first broadcast on PBS in 1990): Before the war, it was said "the United States are." Perhaps the point is more clearly seen if one writes that "The United States" turned into a singular noun. It looks as though you’ve already said that. And that sums up what the war accomplished.
Or should I have written "is"? In the Constitution, for instance, "the United States" is treated as plural, but so is "the House of Representatives," "the Senate," and "Congress." We're sorry, you must be a subscriber to comment.
Manage your GDPR consents by clicking here. You seem to be logged out. Even disregarding the synonymity of "union" and "federation" and insisting on the capitalization: The "United States" of Mexico and "America" are right … Your account was created.
Already, as a result of Secretary Foster's careful historical research on the subject, the House of Representative's Committee on Revision of the Laws had ruled in 1902 that "the United States" should be treated as singular, not plural. Whoops! Pursuant to U.S. Who Went Home on, The 26 Best Online Games to Play With Friends While Social Distancing, 50 Halloween Trivia Questions and Answers to Get You Ready for the Scariest Day of the Year. An 1895 column in the Indianapolis Journal defended the usage of Secretary of State Richard Olney, who preferred "the United States are." There was an error in your submission. conditions of our. You are posting comments too quickly. Relive Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani's Sweet Love Story, 20 Weight Watchers Christmas Dessert Recipes That Are Low in Points But High in Flavor. The UK and the US differ generally on the is/are thing with collective nouns, though you don't tend to see 'The United States are' these days. Tyra Banks Reveals the Painful Fashion Emergency She Hid From Viewers on, The First Perfect Score! Sorry, comments are currently closed. And in 1909, classics scholar and former Confederate soldier Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve stated, in a widely quoted lecture, "It was a point of grammatical concord which was at the bottom of the Civil War — 'United States are,' said one, 'United States is,' said another. Goddard Media LLC | Privacy Policy, Political Wire ® is a registered trademark of Goddard Media LLC, Harris Is a Tough Target for the Trump Campaign », Donald Trump v. The United States: Inside the Struggle to Stop a President, Lincoln Project Will Become a Media Company, ‘The Squad’ Expects Biden to Move Left After Election, Kavanaugh Parrots Trump in Wisconsin Ruling, Russia Implements Nationwide Mask Mandate, Bloomberg Funds Ad Blitz for Biden in Texas and Ohio, Swing-District Democrats Poised to Defy Predictions, Why Wall Street Is Banking on a Blue Wave, Justices Decline to Change Wisconsin Ballot Deadline, Schumer Says GOP Will Regret Rushing Confirmation, Fox News Covers Hunter Biden More Than WikiLeaks, Member Briefing: The Man Who Ran Washington, 423 Pages - 09/01/2020 (Publication Date) - Random House (Publisher). Refresh your page, login and try again. But why do we say "the United States is full of..." instead of "the United States are"?
Before the war, there were writers and statesmen who preferred the singular, and afterwards there were still many who held on to the old plural usage.
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