country name [plural or singular]

Question

I saw this news headline:

Can country names be treated as plural nouns? This dictionary says it is a singular noun.

Can you edit your question to explain something about what leads you to think that country names can be treated as plural nouns? "Details, please." — Ben Kovitz, Oct 14 '19 at 06:12
Oh, I think I figured it out: you must be asking why "defeat" agrees with "Japan". — Ben Kovitz, Oct 14 '19 at 06:14
I wrote you an answer but since this question got marked as a duplicate, I posted it here. — Ben Kovitz, Oct 14 '19 at 06:54
OK. Thanks. If this question should be deleted, please delete it. "India has or India have" is probably not an informative title, though. — quibble, Oct 14 '19 at 07:02

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 14 '19 at 06:17

1

In British sport journalism, teams are usually plural, and national teams are named as the nation.

answered Oct 14 '19 at 06:17

Michael Harvey

1 Answers1