# In other languages does "the United States" take a singular or plural verb? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128 "2014-06-05T16:20:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/1 "2014-06-05T16:20:40Z")
It’s been claimed that before the American Civil War people would commonly say “The United States are…” and only afterwards did it change to “The United States is…” Whether or not that’s so, it’s certainly true that the latter is far more common today. What about in other languages though? Does the USA take the singular or the plural version of the verb? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/2 "2014-06-05T16:29:52Z")
Spanish, Catalan and French, “the United States of America” and most variations are plural; “America” is singular. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/3 "2014-06-05T16:29:53Z")
In German it takes the plural (both for articles and verb), for the full form _die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika_ as well as for the shorter forms _die Vereinigten Staaten_ and _die USA_. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/4 "2014-06-05T16:33:59Z")
In the UK, we would say, “The United States is…”. More commonly “The U.S. is…” or “America is…”. It is a common trick in quizzes to confuse competitors with America, North America and The whole of the Americas. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/5 "2014-06-05T16:44:55Z")
Garry Wills wrote a book on Lincoln making the claim that before him people generally used the plural for United States and after him people generally used the singular. (Emphasis on generally: it’s not an iron law.) It wouldn’t be surprising for those in other countries, not having gone through that internal trauma, would stick with an older usage. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/6 "2014-06-05T17:50:53Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Spanish, Catalan and French, “the United States of America” and most variations are plural; “America” is singular. Portuguese, too. And take the plural verb, of course (per the OP question). Les Etats Unis _son_. . . ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/7 "2014-06-05T17:58:10Z")
What about the United Mexican States? Come to think of it, does anybody say “United Mexican States?” Do they call it Estados Unidos Mexicanos in Mexico or other Spanish-speaking countries? I’ve never heard it called anything but Mexico in English, either by native-born Americans or people of Mexican origin. I only know that Mexico isn’t its official name because pedants occasionally feel the need to point out that there is more than one United States in America. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/8 "2014-06-05T18:35:01Z")
In Google Translator, in the sentence “The USA is in North America” French uses plural article, singular verb Spanish uses plural article, plural verb Portuguese uses plural article, plural verb German uses “die” and plural verb. (If USA is feminine, ‘die’ is the same singular or plural) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/9 "2014-06-05T18:40:09Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > What about the United Mexican States? > > Come to think of it, does anybody say “United Mexican States?” Do they call it Estados Unidos Mexicanos in Mexico or other Spanish-speaking countries? > > I’ve never heard it called anything but Mexico in English, either by native-born Americans or people of Mexican origin. I only know that Mexico isn’t its official name because pedants occasionally feel the need to point out that there is more than one United States in America. You forgot Brazil. Both countries take the plural when their names are said in the full form (the noun is States, Estados - identical in Spanish and Portuguese), the singular when the short forms are used. And it’s not “United Mexican States”, it’s “United States of Mexico” - _Estados Unidos de México_, not _Estados Unidos Mexicanos_. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/10 "2014-06-05T18:47:01Z")
In Spanish it uses a plural article and singular verb. Los Estados Unidos de América es un país ubicado entre Canada y México. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/11 "2014-06-05T18:50:12Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > You forgot Brazil. Both countries take the plural when their names are said in the full form (the noun is States, Estados - identical in Spanish and Portuguese), the singular when the short forms are used. And it’s not “United Mexican States”, it’s “United States of Mexico” - _Estados Unidos de México_, not _Estados Unidos Mexicanos_. Pédon pero estas equivocada. El nombre oficial de mi país es Estados Unidos Mexicanos. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/12 "2014-06-05T18:52:39Z")
That’s kind of an exception though, and it has to do with a grammatical concept which exists in Spanish but not in English: _nombres compuestos_ (multi-word nouns). I didn’t want to confuse the issue by bringing up that kind of concept, as every time it crops up we go back and forth for several posts and hijack yet another thread with it. _Estados Unidos ha vuelto a apretar los aranceles_ (United States has tightened tariffs again) - singular because the whole group _Estados Unidos_ is being treated as a noun. Your example, same, the whole thing is being treated as a single noun. But _Los Estados Unidos se han ofrecido como mediadores en Oriente Medio_ (the United States have offered to mediate in the Middle East), it’s not that individual states have offered, but that the structure is being treated as a nominal syntagm where the only noun is the plural _Estados_. I stand corrected on the country’s name. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/13 "2014-06-05T19:10:46Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > That’s kind of an exception though, and it has to do with a grammatical concept which exists in Spanish but not in English: _nombres compuestos_ (multi-word nouns). I didn’t want to confuse the issue by bringing up that kind of concept, as every time it crops up we go back and forth for several posts and hijack yet another thread with it. > > _Estados Unidos ha vuelto a apretar los aranceles_ (United States has tightened tariffs again) - singular because the whole group _Estados Unidos_ is being treated as a noun. Your example, same, the whole thing is being treated as a single noun. But _Los Estados Unidos se han ofrecido como mediadores en Oriente Medio_ (the United States have offered to mediate in the Middle East), it’s not that individual states have offered, but that the structure is being treated as a nominal syntagm where the only noun is the plural _Estados_. > > I stand corrected on the country’s name. But there seems to be many exceptions, such as \*En 1989, los Estados Unidos invadió Panamá \* \*Los Estados Unidos participó en los Juegos Olímpicos de Londres 2012 \* - Para tranquilizarlos, los Estados Unidos envió a Polonia 12 cazas F-16, \* ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/14 "2014-06-05T19:14:50Z")
But they’re still all based on a grammatical structure that does not exist in English. As a rule to give to a foreigner without confusing him, “treat it as plural for all cases” is much more useful than explaining nominal syntagms, nouns and compound nouns. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/15 "2014-06-05T19:26:26Z")
Really it partakes of both, as in a mystery. The orotund use by old blowhards of ‘_These United States_’ would indicate that. Then again some of us feel Calhoun wanted a good kicking, daily. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/16 "2014-06-05T19:36:35Z")
In Dutch: De VS _is_ een leuk land. - When abbreviated it takes singular, though plural is also allowed. De Verenigde Staten van Amerika _hebben_ een nieuwe president. - The whole name takes the plural verb. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/17 "2014-06-05T19:42:20Z")
Wrong question for Welsh. It’s a plural noun, but all expressed nouns in Welsh take a singular verb. Looking around online, it seems like the pronoun used for the US is singular most of the time (but a feminine noun, so not “state”—must be a metonymic substitution for “the country”). Other times, though, it’s plural. Interesting question. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/18 "2014-06-05T20:04:04Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > Really it partakes of both, as in a mystery. The orotund use by old blowhards of ‘_These United States_’ would indicate that. > Then again some of us feel Calhoun wanted a good kicking, daily. Until the box is opened, the cat is both plural and singular at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/19 "2014-06-05T20:26:18Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > In Google Translator, in the sentence “The USA is in North America” > French uses plural article, singular verb That is what Google Translate says, but the translation is not correct. I’ve never seen a singular verb used with États-Unis in the “wild.” It’s always “les États-Unis sont . . .” ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128/20 "2014-06-05T20:35:01Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > What about the United Mexican States? > > Come to think of it, does anybody say “United Mexican States?” Do they call it Estados Unidos Mexicanos in Mexico or other Spanish-speaking countries? > > I’ve never heard it called anything but Mexico in English, either by native-born Americans or people of Mexican origin. I only know that Mexico isn’t its official name because pedants occasionally feel the need to point out that there is more than one United States in America. It was a pointless answer in an episode of Pointless. I actually felt rather proud that I knew it. Anyway, on the 10 peso coin I just looked at the country name is written as Estados Unidos Mexicanos. I’ve never heard anyone actually call it that though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-other-languages-does-the-united-states-take-a-singular-or-plural-verb/690128.md?page=2)