6 Nations Champions!

[ali777]

Have we not had this conversation before :whistle: ?

Here is the take of someone who learnt English at 17-18 and speaks it as a third language.

It all depends on the context. If I was referring to the country, I'd say Italy has won the WC or Japan makes good cars. However, if I was referring to the team or the nation, I'd say Italy have won the WC, or The Japanese make good cars. I'm more likely to go with the plural.

The name of the team doesn't matter. It implies a collection of people, ie it's plural.

In the American English, all the teams I can think of have plural names, ie, the Rangers, the Bulls, the Rockets, the Lakers, etc.

If, what Bryan says is the correct logic, then we MUST say "The Lakers has won the play-offs". It just doesn't sound right, does it? So, Bryan's logic is incorrect unk: (I rest my case)

What about the term "heats up" versus "hots up"?

When a game is getting intense, is the game "hotting up?"

I'm lost here.. Which one is British? I'd say "heating up" to imply the rise in temperature, and "hotting up" to imply things are progressing or intensifying. I mean, you wouldn't say "It's a heat technology", you would say "It's a hot technology". So, hot is the right word to describe intensity, eg "Things are getting hot" or "Things are hotting up".

I wouldn't say "heat up" is wrong. "The game is heating up" sounds OK to me, but "hot up" has the edge in my limited vocabulary.

 

[ali777]

lol. Im not surprised quite frankly how its a hard language to learn. As shown here its a language that can be used quite loosely and differs between dialects. anyways..way off topic. Well done Ireland.

Nah... English is easy to learn, hard to master. English grammar is very easy compared to other languages. The only problem with English is the pronounciation and accents.

 

[Bryan]

It all depends on the context. If I was referring to the country, I'd say Italy has won the WC or Japan makes good cars. However, if I was referring to the team or the nation, I'd say Italy have won the WC, or The Japanese make good cars. I'm more likely to go with the plural.

What's really the difference between "country" and "nation"?

Changing from "Japan" to "the Japanese" isn't fair, because it _does_ change from a singular entity (a nation/country) to a plural one (several Japanese people). For the purposes of this illustration, you have to stick with one usage or the other (Italy/Japan, or the Italians/the Japanese).

The name of the team doesn't matter. It implies a collection of people, ie it's plural.

In the American English, all the teams I can think of have plural names, ie, the Rangers, the Bulls, the Rockets, the Lakers, etc.

If, what Bryan says is the correct logic, then we MUST say "The Lakers has won the play-offs". It just doesn't sound right, does it? So, Bryan's logic is incorrect unk: (I rest my case)

That's an exception to the general rule. It would sound too strange to say "the Lakers has won the play-offs", so we _do_ go with the plural in those cases when the plurality is stated explicitly in the name. In other cases where the name is clearly singular, like "Manchester United", I guarantee you that every home grown American without exception is going to say "Manchester United has won the play-offs."

 

[ali777]

The name of the team doesn't matter. It implies a collection of people, ie it's plural.

In the American English, all the teams I can think of have plural names, ie, the Rangers, the Bulls, the Rockets, the Lakers, etc.

If, what Bryan says is the correct logic, then we MUST say "The Lakers has won the play-offs". It just doesn't sound right, does it? So, Bryan's logic is incorrect unk: (I rest my case)

That's an exception to the general rule. It would sound too strange to say "the Lakers has won the play-offs", so we _do_ go with the plural in those cases when the plurality is stated explicitly in the name. In other cases where the name is clearly singular, like "Manchester United", I guarantee you that every home grown American without exception is going to say "Manchester United has won the play-offs."

Manchester United states plurality implicitly :dunno: