Is the phrase "United States" singular or plural?

Uriel   Wed Jan 20, 2010 1:19 am GMT
<<If I'm recalling correctly, aren't these collective noun thingymabobs one one of the areas where British and American English differ? >>

You are correct. Brits tend to make collective nouns plural, whereas Americans make them singular. "The United States" may indeed fall into that divide.
blanc   Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:49 am GMT
It is interesting, I never notice that plural names of countries are usually used as singular entities in English.

In french, It is actually very important, if the name of the country is pural (because there are more than one "Etat" (state) in "Les Etats-unis"; or more than one islands in "Les Bahamas" (which is actually a contraction of "les Iles Bahamas" (the Bahamas islands).

It would be incorrect if we say "Les Etats-unis EST un grand pays"; but we have to say "Les Etats-unis SONT un grand pays"

Some "plural contries" in french:

Les Etats Unis d'Amérique
Les Bahamas
Les Pays-Bas
Les Seychelles
Les Emirats Arabes unis
Les Philippines


Those countries are either unions of states/lands, etc or groups of islands.
WattoatBerneray   Fri Jan 22, 2010 3:50 am GMT
The United States is a contraction of The United States of America. To note that this is plural is to miss that we are talking about a single entity. i.e treated as singular and, as it is a proper name, the first letters are capitalised.

However, if I wrote the united states [uncapitalised] I am now not talking of an entity but a collection of objects thus this should be treated as a plural.

In a sentence like 'The United States is in Afganistan' we have a number of interpreatations:
The writer could be trying to say ' The country of the United States of America is located in the country of Afganistan - which is factually incorrect.
They could be using the United States as a contraction which should be understoood to mean 'the United States Military'
or
it could be being used as a metaphor for the what the United States stands for is in Afganistan.

The sentence in itself is not incorrect but as English is a very flexible language sentences in themselves can oft be misinterpreted.
Child of Bohemia   Fri Jan 22, 2010 3:55 am GMT
<<The sentence in itself is not incorrect but as English is a very flexible language sentences in themselves can oft be misinterpreted. >>


English is flexible my ass. English is a stone. Reinforced concrete.