tons of rubbish is vs tons of rubbish are

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'Tons of rubbish is' is used when referring to the quantity of rubbish as a singular entity, while 'Tons of rubbish are' is used when emphasizing the individual items within the quantity. The choice between 'is' and 'are' depends on whether the focus is on the collective amount or the individual components.

Last updated: April 13, 2024 • 713 views

This phrase is correct when referring to the quantity of rubbish as a singular entity.

"tons of rubbish is"

This phrase is used when the focus is on the collective amount of rubbish rather than the individual items within it.

Examples:

Tons of rubbish is being collected from the streets.
Tons of rubbish is piling up in the landfill.

Show examples from the web [+]

Hundreds of fish are being taken out of our seas each year, tons of rubbish is being throw in and too little is being done to protect our precious marine ...
Jul 15, 2011 ... Even when the 25 million tons of rubbish is cleared from the streets and makeshift waste centers, and loads start to arrive at recycling ...
Jan 11, 2018 ... Similar backups have been reported in Canada, Ireland, Germany and several other European nations, while tons of rubbish is piling up in ...
Sep 24, 2018 ... ABOUT three tons of rubbish is pulled out of Guernsey's wastewater system every week.
Every year, tons of rubbish is cleared off NatureScot's largest NNR beach at Forvie, with most of it going straight into landfill. But some is easily reused ...
Apr 27, 2022 ... The site in northern New Delhi is taller than a 17-story building and bigger than 50 football fields; about 2300 tons of rubbish is dumped ...
Jun 26, 2019 ... Up to half of 'recyclable' waste is not being recycled in some parts of England; Hundreds of thousands of tons of rubbish is sent to ...
tons of rubbish is or are - English Only forum tons of things - English Only forum <tons of tons of> vs. <tons and tons of> - English Only forum
Nov 22, 2011 ... The Indian capital is home to three landfills where around 6,000 tons of rubbish is dumped daily. The landfills produce significant amounts ...

Alternatives:

A ton of rubbish is
A large amount of rubbish is
A massive pile of rubbish is
An enormous quantity of rubbish is
A huge mound of rubbish is

This phrase is correct when emphasizing the individual items within the quantity of rubbish.

"tons of rubbish are"

This phrase is used when the focus is on the individual components or items within the quantity of rubbish.

Examples:

Tons of rubbish are scattered all over the place.
Tons of rubbish are waiting to be sorted and recycled.

Show examples from the web [+]

Feb 19, 2010 ... The Dharavi slum in Mumbai has 400 recycling units and 30,000 ragpickers. Six thousand tons of rubbish are sorted every day. In 2007, the ...
Jul 13, 2021 ... * Each oak tree drinks 20 gallons of water. * Over four million tons of rubbish are thrown out. * 52,000 tons of cotton is harvested. * 160,000 ...
Jun 21, 1993 ... Environmentalists estimate 50 tons of rubbish are scattered across Everest as well as a more macabre form of litter -- the corpses of dozens ...
Thirty million tons of rubbish are collected from England's streets each year. That's enough to fill Wembley Stadium four times over; The Highways Agency ...
Dec 10, 2022 ... Over a kilometer-long section thousands of tons of rubbish are under plastic sheets, which are torn here and there. Northern city piles up ...
May 9, 2017 ... In Jakarta, 7,000 tons of rubbish are produced daily with only 5,200 tons taken away by garbage trucks to site in Bantar Gebang.
Feb 6, 2017 ... The huge pit, into which tons of rubbish are dumped every day, has its own graveyard where tombs seem about to collapse at any moment.
Apr 15, 2015 ... Thirty million tons of rubbish are collected from England's streets each year—enough to fill Wembley Stadium four times over; cleaning up ...

Alternatives:

A ton of rubbish is
A large amount of rubbish is
A massive pile of rubbish is
An enormous quantity of rubbish is
A huge mound of rubbish is

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tons of rubbish is vs tons of rubbish are