The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #61678   Message #992867
Posted By: Bill D
29-Jul-03 - 06:14 PM
Thread Name: BS: US 'was' or 'were'? Which?
Subject: RE: BS: US 'was' or 'were'? Which?
you can say "The United States is"...but you can also say "the states are" when needing to refer to them as separate entities. "United" is the item that makes it singular.

The US is at war.

The states are not all happy about it.