The Ispian...Un lugar en común - N° 3 - Junio 2014 | Page 19

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From tiny buttons of goat cheese to massive, 220-pound wheels of Emmenthaler, from delicate fresh ricotta to rugged aged Gouda, cheese is basically a highly concentrated form of milk.

But this nutritious vegetable (sweet potato) is quite versatile and makes a great puree, soup or soufflé; “croutons” made with it are wonderful in salads, providing a lovely contrast to savory lettuces, salty cheeses and pungent dressings.

2. Nouns ending in –s

Such invariable singular nouns are followed by a singular verb because they are also uncountable. What makes these nouns special, though, is the fact that they finish with the letter –s. Thus, this might result in confusion among learners as, more often than not, most of them tend to think that the words are plural countable nouns and, as a result, they might choose a plural verb. These nouns include:

Nouns ending is –s such as “news”

Names of diseases: mumps, measles, rabies

Names of games: cards, darts, billiards

Names of school subjects and physical activities: politics- economics- physics, gymnastics, aerobics.

The economic news is looking better lately.

You know, politics is a team sport, folks, and sometimes you’ve got to rally together and do something, and in this case I thought testing and finding out how bad the problem was wasn’t a bad idea.

3. Invariable plural nouns

Invariable plural nouns are always plural in meaning and in form. As a result of this, they are always followed by a plural verb. Such nouns belong to the following categories:

Summation plurals (scissors- jeans- pliers- tweezers- binoculars- glasses)

Pluralia tantum (arms- belongings- goods- whereabouts)

Personal adjectival heads (the rich- the poor- the Dutch- the British)

“Those pants are languid yet powerful — and they don’t look like any other label’s slacks.”