The amazing Apennine Hills is/are in Tuscany

[keannu]

Tuscany is a beautiful region in Italy. It is famous for cities such as Florence, Siena, and Pisa.
The amazing Apennine Hills is/are in Tuscany....

Which is correct? Does some hills or mountains have to be pluralized?
1.The amazing Apennine Hills is in Tuscany
2.The amazing Apennine Hills are in Tuscany

 

[Rover_KE]

Where did you encounter the quoted text?

Your sentences need full stops/periods.

Which do you think is correct?

Hint: Think of The Sound of Music ...

'The hills ___ alive ...'

 

[Tarheel]

Do hills or mountains have to be pluralized?

Some would say those words are already in the plural form.

 

[jutfrank]

Firstly, the Appennines are mountains (or a mountain range), not hills.

Secondly, you shouldn't say that they are 'in' Tuscany. They stretch down the peninsula, passing through several other regions. They are not contained within Tuscany.

You can use the Appennines either as a singular noun when thinking of it as a single mountain range, or as a plural noun if thinking of them as multiple mountains.

 

[teechar]

You can use the Appennines either as a singular noun when thinking of it as a single mountain range,

That's not common. The usual is the plural "the Apennines" (without "range").

 

[Tarheel]

I would say:
.
The Apenines are ...

 

[teechar]

The [STRIKE]Appenines[/STRIKE] Apennines are ...

Did the spell checker not flag that one?

 

[teechar]

the [STRIKE]Appennines[/STRIKE] Apennines

And how about jutfrank's spell checker? ;-)

 

[jutfrank]

That's not common. The usual is the plural "the Apennines" (without "range").

I mean you could treat it as a singular noun, even though it has plural form.

The Apennines is a mountain range.

Would you prefer The Apennines are a mountain range.?

 

[teechar]

Would you prefer The Apennines are a mountain range?

I would.

 

[Rover_KE]

Where did you encounter the quoted text?

Your sentences need full stops/periods.

Which do you think is correct?

Hint: Think of The Sound of Music ...

'The hills ___ alive ...'

Don't just Thank me for this post, keannu – answer it, please.

 

[jutfrank]

I would.

Well, I consider that incorrect.

The sentence I gave in post #9 was an attempt to demonstrate that when thinking of something as a singularity, we treat it as if it were a singular noun. A word can have a plural form at the same time as a singular reference. The form is secondary to the meaning. The term 'the Apennines' is just the label used to refer to the single system of mountains. Any sentence beginning with The Apennines are ... suggests that the speaker is thinking of the plural mountains themselves, not the singular system.

If I asked you What is the largest mountain range in the world?, thereby priming you to answer with a singular reference, would you still answer The Himalayas are the largest mountain range in the world?

 

[keannu]

This text is from page 27 of "Great Writing" published by CENGAGE Learning.
The original sentence didn't have a period for a correction purpose.

For this, I think "are" is correct.
=================
Which do you think is correct?

Hint: Think of The Sound of Music ...

'The hills ___ alive ...'

 

[keannu]

According to jutfrank's opinion, it seems that either 1 or 2 is OK depending on the concept of singularity(a mountain range) or plurality(many successive mountains).

1.The amazing Apennine Hills is in Tuscany.
2.The amazing Apennine Hills are in Tuscany.

I think a similar case is like this.
1. My family likes baseball. - "family" is treated as a single noun when all of them like baseball in singularity.
2. My family like different sports. My dad likes baseball, my mom soccer, and me and my sister basketball. - "family" is treated as a plural noun when all of them like different things.

 

[teechar]

would you still answer The Himalayas are the largest mountain range in the world?

I would. Consider: What is the most famous pop group in history?
The Beatles are the most famous pop group.
The Beatles is the most famous pop group.

Which one would you say?

 

[jutfrank]

The Beatles are the most famous pop group.
The Beatles is the most famous pop group.

Which one would you say?

Regardless of what I'd say, I'd teach the second one.


The United States is in North America.
The United States are in North America.

Here?

 

[jutfrank]

According to jutfrank's opinion, it seems that either 1 or 2 is OK depending on the concept of singularity(a mountain range) or plurality(many successive mountains).

1.The amazing Apennine Hills is in Tuscany.
2.The amazing Apennine Hills are in Tuscany.

I think a similar case is like this.
1. My family likes baseball. - "family" is treated as a single noun when all of them like baseball in singularity.
2. My family like different sports. My dad likes baseball, my mom soccer, and me and my sister basketball. - "family" is treated as a plural noun when all of them like different things.

You've understood my main point, but as I've mentioned, neither of the first two numbers 1 and 2 are right because they seem to be saying that the Apennines are contained within Tuscany. Also, the 'Apennines' is the name of a mountain chain, not hills.

 

[Tarheel]

Regardless of what I'd say, I'd teach the second one.


The United States is in North America.
The United States are in North America.

Here?

These days it's "The United States is" but it hasn't always been that way.