Do you say The United States is or the United States are? Which is correct?

Question

Thanks, AnnieG. My confusion arises from the fact that in both French and German, it's clearly followed by a plural, but then the have a different word for 'the' singular and 'the' plural.
The same applies to the Nehjeralnds. It's 'Les (plural) Pays Bas and 'Die (plural) Niederländer'.

That should be Netherlands of course.

Answer 1

I would say that The United States are because you are refering to plural states in a country. If you use the single word America then you use is because you are refering to a single continent

Answer 2

Noun + verb agreement

Collective nouns, such as committee, government, team, can be followed by either a singular or a plural verb form. When the singular verb form and/or singular pronouns are used, the group is treated as a unit; when the plural verb form and/or plural pronouns are used, the noun treats a group as a number of individuals:

The government has said it will take action.(treated as a unit) The government have said they will take action.(treated as composed of different individuals/departments)

The team is in good spirits. (treated as a unit)
The team are in good spirits.(treated as composed of individual team members)

Plural concord is more common than singular in informal contexts. Further examples of collective nouns which behave similarly are:

audience
company
group
board
congregation
jury
committee
crew
public

community
enemy
staff

Other nouns with variable or otherwise noteworthy agreement patterns include bulk, couple, majority, minority, number, pair, percentage, proportion, rest, remainder:

While some patients in the special hospitals are dangerous, the majority are not. (typical usage: treated as composed of separate individuals; plural agreement)

Over 100,000 supporters waited to see the game but the majority was outside watching on a large screen.(less typical usage: treated as a unified body; more formal)[from a film review]

The rest of the cast are okay as well but no one really stands out, and the special effects are merely okay, too.(treated as composed of separate individuals)

The rest of the European Union now seems ready to reluctantly bow to British pressure that justice and home affairs remain primarily a matter for intergovernmental cooperation. (treated as a unified body)

There were a number of strange facts that were difficult to explain, and the judge decided that she was the murderer. (almost always plural agreement even though singular in form)

A couple of boys were standing at the corner.(almost always plural agreement even though singular in form


So it depends on what you mean!

surprised? I am a grammarian ;)

Answer 3

In using the title "The United States" you're referring to a single collective body, which happens to be named for it's parts...this is a proper noun for a single item.

Therefore, the title is singular: It IS the United States.

If you used the term "The Southern states", you would be referring to plural, individual items...and they ARE.

Answer 4

The United States as it is one collection of States. So it is singular. If you are talking about more than one set of United States such as the EU and America then you use ARE which is the plural.

Answer 5

It's a single country, therefore it takes a singular verb, just the same as 'The UK (United Kingdom) is,' 'The Netherlands is, 'The UAE is.' Take no notice of the 'are' brigade unless you're saying something like 'Some of the states within the USA are . . .'

Answer 6

The United States is a collective noun or name of a place describing a country that is made up of 50 states. It always takes a singular verb.

Answer 7

The United States is., that's the correct one. United States is a collective body and they are always followed by singular verbs. It's like "The bag of grains is falling."

Answer 8

One thing =Is
Two things=Are

Separately there ARE 50 states
But they are united into one country
One country =IS

The United States IS made up of 50 separate states.

Answer 9

As a noun in itself, "United States" is singular - therefor, United States is...

Example: The United States is the best country in the world.

Answer 10

The United States is..... Because it is a country you have to say is. Not are.