Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.



During the Olympics, I often get this question: Should the Olympics take a singular verb or a plural verb? Singular means one. Plural means more than one.



Actually, you can find a lot of discussions about this topic on the web. They offer different answers and suggestions.



What I do is to use a plural verb for the Olympics. I feel safe and comfortable doing so, because even if I were wrong, I could always blame Cambridge.



If you look up the word "the Olympics" in the Cambridge dictionary, it says the word "the Olympics" is a plural noun to mean a set of international sports competitions that happen once every four years. And one of the example sentences says "The Olympics are held every four years".



The same rule applies to the Paralympics. And also make sure to place the definite article or THE in front of both Olympics and Paralympics.