Thread: Help TEFLers.

My kids homework. Which is correct?

Write "There is" or "There are" in the blanks correctly. (No cheating now.)

1. ...............some cloud in the sky. (cloud or clouds?)

2. ...............ten horses in the stable.

3. ...............27 desks in the classroom.

4. ...............a buffalo in the field.

5. ...............some chickens in the pen.

6. ...............2 bottles of shampoo in the shower room.

7. ...............a bar of chalk on the table.

8. ...............police at the police station.

9. ...............boiled rice in the bowl.

10. ..............some mice in the dirty market.

11. ..............some worms in the sand.

12. ..............a cow in the field.

13. .............some lotuses in the flower shop.

14. .............some pens and some liquid paper in the stationary.

15. ..............many toys in the box.

16. ..............there is a chicken on the plate.

17. ..............three people sitting under the tree.

18. ..............four sandwiches on the table.



The are more but......... Good luck. And thanks for putting yourselves out.

I'm no Tefler, but would say:

1; Is. Or Are if Clouds was used.
2; Are
3; Are
4; Is
5; Are
6; Are
7; Is
8; Are
9; Is
10; Is
11; Are
12; Is
13; Are
14; Are
15; Are
16; Is
17; Are
18; Are

Is for singular, are for plural.

1. There is some cloud in the sky (strange syntax) would be better put "There are some clouds in the sky today"

2. There are ten horses in the stable.

3. There are 27 desks in the classroom.

4. There is a buffalo in the field.

5. There are some chickens in the pen.

6. There are 2 bottles of shampoo in the shower room.

7. There is a bar of chalk on the table.

8. There are police at the police station.

9. There is boiled rice in the bowl.

10. There are some mice in the dirty market.

11. There are some worms in the sand.

12. There is a cow in the field.

13. There are some lotuses in the flower shop.

14. There are some pens and some liquid paper in the stationary.

15. There are many toys in the box.

16. Is there a chicken on the plate?

17. Are there three people sitting under the tree?

18. There are four sandwiches on the table.

1 is either a printing mistake or the teacher is wrong.

WTF with this intelligence test for sub-morons?

^ Agreed... you have to try to guess what the Thai teacher's original intent was. Mind reading ability is another skill an English teacher in Thailand must have. Fair? no.... reality, yup...

Originally Posted by ENT

ntelligence test for sub-morons?

Shoulda kept quiet ENT and saw how many would actually go to the length of answering that test for 4 year olds

Originally Posted by ENT

WTF with this intelligence test for sub-morons?

You failed it didn't you.

Originally Posted by ENT

WTF with this intelligence test for sub-morons?

A test for me really as I never knew.

Originally Posted by PAG

Is for singular, are for plural.

So thanks all, except ENT

Prag's a good lad - asked for help, so gave it.

But yeah, not exactly mentally stimulating... although I was stimulated using my bathmate product at the time...

While dermarolling my face..

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Originally Posted by ENT

WTF with this intelligence test for sub-morons?

A test for me really as I never knew.

Originally Posted by PAG

Is for singular, are for plural.

Jesus fucking Christ.

Originally Posted by Jesus Jones

1 is either a printing mistake or the teacher is wrong.

Does reading infowars turn you into an idiot or do idiots enjoy reading infowars? Anyway, there's nothing wrong with that sentence.

Originally Posted by Passing Through

Does reading infowars turn you into an idiot or do idiots enjoy reading infowars? Anyway, there's nothing wrong with that sentence.

It's just a bit clumsy, like your patronising attitude.

Originally Posted by NZdick1983

I was stimulated using my bathmate

The rubber duck.. I don't think I want to know the details.

Originally Posted by NZdick1983

But yeah, not exactly mentally stimulating.

You got question 16 wrong, ya dumb fuk

Originally Posted by TheDukeofNewcastle

Originally Posted by Passing Through

Does reading infowars turn you into an idiot or do idiots enjoy reading infowars? Anyway, there's nothing wrong with that sentence.

It's just a bit clumsy, like your patronising attitude.

If you're thinking about individual instances of clouds, it will be plural but if you're thinking about the substance 'cloud', it'll be singular. Both, though, are perfectly normal. Better luck next time Corporal.

Originally Posted by Passing Through

Originally Posted by TheDukeofNewcastle

Originally Posted by Passing Through

Does reading infowars turn you into an idiot or do idiots enjoy reading infowars? Anyway, there's nothing wrong with that sentence.

It's just a bit clumsy, like your patronising attitude.

If you're thinking about individual instances of clouds, it will be plural but if you're thinking about the substance 'cloud', it'll be singular. Both, though, are perfectly normal. Better luck next time Corporal.

Steady on gentlemen.

I think there is one thing that we're all in agreement on here: Jesus Jones is a tinfoil-hatted idiot.

^ Fucking Infowars. It makes Fox look like the intellectual's choice.

Originally Posted by Passing Through

If you're thinking about individual instances of clouds, it will be plural but if you're thinking about the substance 'cloud', it'll be singular. Both, though, are perfectly normal. Better luck next time Corporal.

I'm good at sums.

I've looked at Clouds from both sides now

I feel a mega shit-fight brewing, over the intricacies of prathom 3 grammar..

I admit I'm ignorant when it comes down to English, which is why I checked before correcting my kids. It seems I'm not the only one. I'm now unsure who is correct.

8. There are police at the police station.

Where's ENT when you need him?

“police are” or “police is”




In instructional videos I see on the internet, the teacher says "in the U.S and Canada, they automatically use police as plural noun", if it is already plural, then what's the singular of police?

grammatical-number
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edited Apr 25 '14 at 15:41


Nick T 1034


asked Apr 25 '14 at 14:36


jinhyun 115238




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3 Answers

active oldest votes



up vote 13 down vote accepted
Police is a plurale tantum, a word with no singular form.

The police are here. 　←　This is okay.
*A police is here. 　 　　←　This is not.

Most of the time, if you'd like to talk about a single officer of the law, you say a police officer, or just an officer:

A police officer is here.　　←　　This is okay.
Several officers arrived.　　←　　This is also okay.

The latter sentence is fine if it's clear from context that you mean a police officer.
But in any case, you can't say *a police.
In this answer, the * symbol indicates that a phrase or sentence is ungrammatical.

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edited Apr 25 '14 at 15:37




answered Apr 25 '14 at 14:42


snailplane♦ 23.6k368121



@MaulikV As well as a million slang terms. Some of which are highly offensive – Cruncher Apr 25 '14 at 15:31
@MaulikV "Policeman" is neither slang nor offensive. It's some of the other million slang terms that are offensive. – David Richerby Apr 25 '14 at 15:45
1 Just to confuse the issue, "The Police was an awesome band" is perfectly fine, but then I've turned it into a singular proper noun (the band named "The Police") instead of the standard dictionary definition for "police." – Brian S Apr 25 '14 at 20:14

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up vote 3 down vote
When speaking of a particular police deparment/agency/service as a group, the singular form for the group will be something like "Police Department".
The police are coming through the door!
versus
The Police Department is hiring.
The actual term for a given police department is determined by the official name. For example, the Dallas Police Department or the University of Maryland Police Force.

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answered Apr 25 '14 at 19:27


gpavek 392



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up vote 0 down vote
Snailplane's answer is fine. But since you are asking about the singular term for the word police, it's...

Policeman - A male police officer
Policewoman - A female police officer.

So, as your title asks...

police are - correct
a police policeman/woman is - correct

shareimprove this answer
edited Apr 25 '14 at 15:53




answered Apr 25 '14 at 15:48


Maulik V♦ 41.6k23122269



3 In English a policeman can be male or female because it refers to the race of man, not the gender. – JamesRyan Apr 25 '14 at 16:12
2 If someone says "a policeman is coming," and it turns out that the officer is female, I will think that they made a mistake. I will think: "oh, it was actually a police<i>woman</i>." I am 30, male, middle class American from Houston, Texas (but Midwest linguistic heritage). – njahnke Apr 25 '14 at 16:45
5 @njahnke If someone says "a policeman is coming" and a female officer shows up, I will think that they were using what they perceived as a generic term. Similar to saying "I will flag a waiter" and calling over a female waitress instead. – Roddy of the Frozen Peas Apr 25 '14 at 16:56
2 The use of "man" (and the "-man" suffix) as a generic term was, certainly, common, and still does happen to a fair degree. The feminist movement has had wide success (at least, where I live, and apparently where @njahnke lives) in convincing a lot of the English-speaking population to move away from this habit, however. There are a number of people who consider it to be perpetuating a negative tradition, and a number of major style guides consider it invalid form. All that said, it may be more important to note that policeman is the singular form of policemen, not police. – KRyan Apr 25 '14 at 18:34