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Grammar & Usage

Olympics: Singular or Plural?

Tanya TruslerJuly 29, 2012

Should we say “the Olympics is” or “the Olympics are”?

It’s safe to say that the Olympics is on everybody’s mind these days. I remember the excitement of living in Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympics. The city was alive and vibrant, full of excitement, hope, and team spirit. I also love how each Olympics seems to bring the world together.

With everyone talking about the Olympics, it is rather important to determine if a singular or plural verb should follow this subject. This very question came up a few days ago, when we were getting ready to rerecord the audio for an updated lesson on the Olympics, which I was about to edit. She asked me if the lesson should use a singular or a plural verb with “the Olympics,” and likewise with “the Olympic Games.” I was stumped, and set about doing some research. It’s funny how we commonly hear both singular and plural verbs used with “the Olympics,” and most of us, including me, probably haven’t given it much thought!

Unfortunately, my dictionaries and style guides didn’t have any direct references to the Olympics. I did some internet research instead. Right away, I noticed multiple uses of both singular and plural verbs following “the Olympics.” Most examples of “the Olympic Games” used a plural verb, although I did see some examples of singular verbs used, too.

Decision Time

We at ESL Library decided to go with “the Olympics” + singular verb and “the Olympic Games” + plural verb. Basically, “the Olympics” is a collective noun like team or United States, and usually takes a singular verb. “Games,” on the other hand, is a plural noun that should take a plural verb. It’s possible to consider “the Olympic Games” as a collective noun, but “the Olympic Games is…” just doesn’t sound right to me. “The Olympic Games are…” sounds much better!

Examples

Example #1

“The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially the XXII Olympic Winter Games, or the 22nd Winter Olympics, is scheduled to take place from 7 to 23 February 2014, in Sochi, Russia, with some events held in the resort town of Krasnaya Polyana.”

Source: Wikipedia, “2014 Winter Olympics,” accessed July 29, 2012, www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Winter_Olympics.

Example #2

“In a speech watched around the world, Games chief Jacques Rogge said: ‘The Olympic Games are coming home tonight.’”

Source: BBC News UK, “Young athletes light London 2012 Olympic flame,” accessed July 29, 2012, www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19008471.

I’d love to know what you think, too! Do you agree with our decision? Why or why not?

Go for the gold,
Tanya

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Comments (33)

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Anonymous A.(Teacher)

I agree totally with you.

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Anonymous A.(Teacher)

Google is an excellent online reference source and 'encylopedia', however when it comes to grammar, when in doubt I use a major periodical or newspaper like the New York Times. So in your examples, BBC is a credible source, while most academians do not regard wikipedia as reliable. The New York Times uses 'Olympics are' in several citations. For example: 'Are the olympics more trouble than they are worth'. http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/04/02/are-the-olympics-more-trouble-than-theyre-worth/how-the-2012-olympic-games-help-londoners. On the other hand, I agree that 'Games' is a plural noun, but I can find no reference that 'The olympics' is a collective noun. My dictionary defines 'the olympics' as a reference to 'the olympic games' and therefore uses the plural noun. Therefore, I believe 'are' is the correct verb in both cases.

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Judy (Guest)

To me the word 'Olympics' when used as an event is singular, but in general I would use a plural verb. I've been watching the Olympics on TV for the last four days. So would i say, 'They are so exciting to watch!' or 'It' is so exciting to watch. If I said 'it', I might think I'm talking about 'the TV'. Whereas if I said 'They', I would know it was the actually sports/games in the Olympics that were exciting.

I don't know - it's a hard one.
J.

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Carmen M.(Teacher)

I still think that 'The Olympics are' sounds better and more natural than using the singular. We've been saying it for so many years that it sounds more like a plural noun than a collective one.

Thanks for the article. :)

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Tara Benwell(Author)

Every time I hear or see a new reference I question it now. In fact, we had to go back to our original lesson plan because we found a few places where we missed a few references related to our own decision (such as in a question form: Are the Olympics...Is the Olympics...) This debate is still open. Please share your thoughts and tell us which team you are cheering for. Most of our team members are Canadian. Go Canada!

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

Thanks for all the great comments! I've found myself saying both 'the Olympics is' and 'the Olympics are' this week. It's a tricky one! Kathleen, thanks for your info re: sources. I did check into some more reliable sources such as the BBC and CNN, but I found that they mostly avoided using the Olympics as a subject and thus avoided the problem altogether. I'm doing some work for Canada Wide Media at the moment, so I might be able to ask the TV Week staff what they've been doing in terms of singular or plural verbs with the Olympics.

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

If you go to tvweek.com and type in 'Olympics is' and 'Olympics are,' you can see plenty of examples of both. I guess it depends on the writer! The good news is that you can't really go wrong. :)

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Rocky (Guest)

Hi there,

I was looking for an answer to this myself. Merriam-Webster Collegiate lists 'Olympic Games' as a plural noun. I believe Third New World has a listing for Olympics but I do not have access to it at the moment. I can see an argument either way, so perhaps it depends on the perspective of the sentence. Thank you for your insight! :)

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Rocky (Guest)

ps I meant to say that if you check out a Google Ngram and run 'Olympics is, Olympics are' (without the quotes), the usage is remarkably similar over time (both in U.S. English and British English). :)

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Rocky,

Thanks for your comments. The Google Ngram search is really interesting...I'm glad you thought of doing that! :)

Hasna (Guest)

Logically we couldnt use 'Olympics is' or 'the Olympic Games is' anyway. Nice tho, I totally agree with you

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Hasna,

Thanks for your comment! I agree that 'the Olympic Games are ' sounds correct, and since 'games' is a count noun, this makes sense. But I still debate with myself over 'the Olympic Games is.' If you think of it as a collective/non-count noun, then it is technically correct (another example: 'The news is interesting.'). I think it's ok to say 'The Winter Olympics is a sporting event that takes place every four years.' But would I say 'The Olympics is exciting' or 'The Olympics are exciting?' In that case, I think the second choice sounds better. It's tough! I guess I'll worry about it again in 2014! ;)

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