Informations: the words that never take an s

Objective & content

This Grammar Fix video (about 3 minutes 30) fixes one mistake: a plural s on words that never take one. Freya and Cody give the rule: information, advice, furniture and news are always singular, with a singular verb (The news is good today). The s of news is part of the word. To count these words, use a helper (a piece of advice, two pieces of advice, a bit of information). Ordinary nouns keep their s (two books). Students repeat sentences with the hosts, then play a three-round game.

Pedagogical guide

French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish and Dutch speakers all make this mistake. In French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish and German, information, advice and furniture are ordinary countable nouns, and the word for news is itself plural, so the news feels plural too. Dutch learners are the partial exception: their words for information and news already work like English, so they mostly err on advice and furniture. Watch for overcorrection: some students remove the s from ordinary nouns. Round two of the game is built to catch this. Say each wrong sentence once at most, then give the rule.

Suggested procedure

1. Before (2 min). Write information, advice, furniture and news on the board. Ask students if their own language makes these words plural. Take a show of hands.
2. Watch (4 min). Play the video once. Students repeat aloud when Cody says "Say them with me": Some information. Some advice. The news is good.
3. Game (3 min). Play the game again. Both sentences are shown and said. Pause at each thinking beat ("Have a think...") and ask the class to vote. In round two, ask why books keeps its s.
4. After (3 min). In pairs, students say one sentence for each word on the board, using some, a piece of or the news is.

Materials & prerequisites

• The video, a screen and sound for the whole class.
• The example words are at about A2- level.

Assessment & extensions

Give students a mixed list of nouns, some like information and some like book, chair and idea. They sort them into "always singular" and "can be plural".