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Some advice on grammar Written for Norwegian students

The basic rule is that a plural subject takes a plural verbal while a singular subject takes a singular verbal. In some cases, however, there may be some doubt. Certain English nouns may require a singular verbal where plural may be felt to be more natural and vice versa.

Plural nouns taking singular verbals

news: This is the news
crossroads: The next crossroads is 300 meters away
works (factory): The old steel-works was closed last year
physics: Physics is studied in most upper secondary schools
measles: Measles is considered to be a children's illness

Singular nouns taking plural verbals

cattle: These are the cattle he bought
police: The police were sent for. They came immediately.
clergy: The clergy refuse to accept divorce

Nouns taking both singular and plural verbals

Singular:
family: His family is one of the richest in the country
crew: The crew is composed of people from several countries
party: The party has confirmed its support for the Foreign Minister
people: The Norwegian people loves football
team: Our team has an away-match on Saturday
Government: The government has just introduced the Bill

Plural:
family: The family were all present at the party
crew: The sea was so rough that even the crew (= the sailors) were sick
party: The whole party has always supported him
people: There were a lot of people there
team: The team are just entering the pitch
Government: The Government have already discussed this question

NOTICE: Countables in Norwegian - uncountables in English

Some nouns are uncountables in English but countables in Norwegian.
An uncountable noun can NEVER take a plural verbal!!!

advice: I need some good advice (or: a piece of advice)
furniture: They bought a lot of furniture (or: a piece of furniture) at the sales
information: We do not always get reliable information
knowledge: His knowledge of English is excellent
news: Here is the 10 o'clock news
money: What do you want with that money? Give it to me!
progress: She has made rapid progress recently

Main source: "Modern Usage" - Gyldendal / Hagbard Line og Per Moen

'It is' or 'there is' ???

Problem:
In Norwegian the word 'det' may mean the same as the English words 'it' and 'there'.
How do I choose the right alternative when writing English?

There is
relates primarily to a nominal (noun/pronoun) where this nominal is the real subject.
Practical advice: If you can replace 'det' with 'det finnes / eksisterer' you should usually use 'there is'.

There is a big museum in New York City
There is no place like home

It is
is used in most other situations:
a) As a formal subject relating to an infinitive, an -ing form, a clause.

• "It is easy to learn English" (infinitive)
• "It is silly behaving like that" (-ing form)
• "It is true that I have bought a new car" (clause)

• "What time is it? It's 3 o'clock" (time)
• "What date is it? It's 16 April, 2005" (date)
• "How far is it to Oslo? It is 1200 kilometers" (distance)
• "It snows in winter" (weather)
• "It is 15 degrees below zero" (temperature)
• "If you want to use it on more than one computer then it's 10 pounds extra" (price)

The use of relative pronouns

Problem:
In Norwegian the relative pronoun is 'som'. Pretty simple!
In English, however, you have several forms of the relative pronoun to choose between, which means that a Norwegian learner will have to remember certain rules:

Some basic information from the table above in words:

• The relative pronoun used about persons and personalized pets:
  Used as a subject = who/that
  'His son, who owns the car, is twenty-five' (in non-defining clauses: never that)
  'The lady who/that wrote you a letter, has gone to Wales' (in defining clauses: either who or that)
  'My dog Warro, who is a German Shepherd, once caught a burglar'
  
  Used as an object = who/whom/that (never that in non-defining clauses)
  


• The relative pronoun used about things/animals in general/etc.:
  Both as a subject and as an object: which
  'Smoking, which is a bad habit, is dangerous'
  'The air, which we breathe, is made up by many gases'
  'The African elephant, which is the biggest animal on earth, has two big tusks'


• With a preposition:
  Preceded by a preposition the relative pronoun should be 'whom'
  'The lady to whom you spoke is my sister'


• Serving as an object you may use 'whom' instead of 'who':
  Mr. Jones, who(m) you will meet tomorrow, is an American.


• 'Which' is also used to refer back to a preceding clause. When we say 'noe som...' in Norwegian, we will usually say 'which' in English:
  'Jim married Jane, which he shouldn't have done'
  'I have to do a lot of work, which I don't like'


• That is usually preferred in the following cases:
  after superlatives:
  'Shakespeare was the greatest writer that ever lived'
  preceded by only, none, nobody, nothing, all, some, few, not any, everything, everyone:
  'Everyone that was saved fell ill'
  'All that I know'

The Gerund (verbalsubstantivet)

Not ready...