# EN: sheep OR sheepS ?



## isausa81

Comment traduit-on des moutons ? Sheep*S *ou sheep ? C'est peut(etre invariable ?   Merci.


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## denis-a-paris

« sheep » sont le pluriel aussi.

There was one sheep. There were many sheep. There are 400 sheep.


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## isausa81

Thks a lot French Translator ! But what about the "there is" ou "there are" ? Thks...


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## French_translator

The verb "there is" or "there are" changes according to who you are refering to but the word doesn't change i.e. not all things plural in English have an s at the end


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## lollypop

Its there are when talking about sheep in the plural so 

"there are many sheep"


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## denis-a-paris

There's one sheep. There are some sheep.

There is one salmon. There are some salmon.


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## French_translator

I think its there is for both occasions (either than or I don't understand my native languages grammar?)


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## lollypop

it is definately 'there are' when referring to plural salmon or sheep???


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## Curmud

It is never correct to say there _is_ 10 sheep.


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## denis-a-paris

Unfortunately, I believe you can hear (I have): "There's a lot of sheep". But, NOT "There is a lot of sheep" which technically is the same thing. Perhaps it's just a fashion of speedy speech, like "J'crois pas" versus "Je ne crois pas".


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## bernadotte

Salut,

as far as I know from grammatical and morphological point of view "sheep" is a countable noun which has plural form as well : sheep, therefore : 
There is a sheep in the yard.
There are many sheep in the yard.
There are a lot of sheep in the yard.
BUT
"There's a lot of sheep in the yard" can not be correct as sheep is not an uncountable noun, and you can use " a lot of " with singular verbs ( such as 'is') *only* if the noun is uncountable.

B.


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## denis-a-paris

denis-a-paris said:
			
		

> Unfortunately, I believe you can hear (I have): "There's a lot of sheep". But, NOT "There is a lot of sheep" which technically is the same thing. Perhaps it's just a fashion of speedy speech, like "J'crois pas" versus "Je ne crois pas".



Please note that in no way did I say it was correct, but it is heard rather frequently. I completely agree with you.


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## pas1phae

The is versus are depends on the context of the sentence. The subject and the verb must agree.

If you refer to multiple sheep, you use are. If you refer to one sheep, you use is.

There *is *one sheep. vs. There *are* many sheep.

Depending on how you phrase your sentence, the word sheep may not be the subject of your sentence.

A sentence such as the one below does not use the word sheep as its subject. Therefore, the verb must agree with the subject not with the word sheep.

There *is* a field for sheep. vs. There *are* fields for sheep.


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## Keith Bradford

Of course, strictly speaking you could argue that - since _*a lot*_ is singular - you should say _there *is* a lot of sheep_ in the same way as _there *is* a flock of sheep_.

But it's generally reckoned that _a lot of = many_, and therefore plural.

Sheep, like fish, is invariable whether singular or plural. *There are a lot of fish in the sea.  There is a lot of fish on the dinner table* (= une grande quantité de poisson)*.* The only reason we don't hear _*there is a lot of sheep on the dinner table *_ is because once the sheep is cooked we call it _mutton_.


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## pas1phae

The word lot is singular. The word lots is plural.

There *is* a lot of sheep. (verb=is, noun=lot)
There *are* lots of sheep. (verb=are, noun=lots)


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## jann

pas1phae said:


> There *is* a lot of sheep. (verb=is, noun=lot)


I'm sorry, but I disagree. A "*lot*" in and of itself is indeed singular.  It is a synonym for "a grouping including one or more items," such as might be sold in an auction (it's also a parcel of land, etc.).  But the expressoin "*a lot of*" (which obviously comes from the same etymology) is a synonym for "a considerable quantity of" and is consequently treated as a plural in modern English when it modifies a countable noun.

If you write _There is a lot of sheep_,  that will be marked incorrect by 99% of English instructors.

There is a lot (_un lot_) for sale at the auction.
and
There is a lot of (_beaucoup de_) sugar in this dessert (modifying anon-count noun).
but
There are a lot of (_beaucoup de_) items for sale at the auction. (modifying a count noun)

But all of this is quite off-topic compared to the original question about how to form the plural of "sheep."  And anyway, it has been discussed to death on the English Only forum.  Here's a starting point.


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