1. Uncountable nouns are usually used, as in Russian, only in the singular: sugar, iron, friendship.
2. The nouns advice, information, progress, knowledge are used only in the singular, while in Russian the corresponding nouns can be used in both singular and plural:
We have very little information on this subject.
3. The noun news is used with a singular meaning, although it has a plural form:
What is the news?
4. The names of sciences ending in –ics (mathematics, physics, economics, phonetics, etc.) are used with a singular meaning, although they have a plural form:
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics.
5. Nouns used only in the singular require the use of verbs after them only in the singular:
Her hair is long and wavy.
Mathematics forms the basis of many other sciences.
The noun “police” is used with a verb only in the plural: The police have arrested a friend of mine.
6. If a collective noun denotes a collective, a group of people represented as a single whole, then it agrees with the singular verb:
My family is large.
The same word agrees with a plural verb if it denotes individual members of a team or group:
My family are early risers.
Examples of collective nouns:
Team, company, family, staff, firm, government