Heidi
Are these both ok? Some news today aren’t true/real. Thanks
Nov 4, 2017 12:19 AM
Answers · 2
First of all, it should be "some news isn't." It's weird, and I never even noticed it before. I was about to say "'news' is a singular noun even though it ends in an 's,'" but I just checked a dictionary and it says it is "a plural noun (used with a singular verb)." Now, we come to a difficult issue of semantics and culture. Up until fairly recently, it was understood that "news" by definition meant a kind of information--something accurate, correct, and true. You could certainly say "Some news today isn't true." That is correct English and would be understood. The word "today" is fine, I would probably make it vaguer by saying "these days." But because of my age and background, I would add something to recognize that if it isn't true, it shouldn't be called "news." "Some 'news' these days isn't true." "These days, some so-called 'news' isn't true." I might go farther in explaining where you need to be careful: "Some 'news' these days, especially on the Internet, isn't true. Be careful!"
November 4, 2017
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