Is the word literature plural or singular?

Answer 1

Literature is a "body of work" and can be plural or singular, but always uses the singular form of a verb (e.g. The literature is, The literature shows)

There is normally no S form. It has very limited application.

Answer 2

The noun 'literature' is an uncountable noun, a type of aggregate noun, a noun representing an indefinite number of elements.

Under ordinary circumstances, it is thought of as uncountable. But it can be used in a 'countable' sense if you are talking about various disparate world literatures. So it would help to know if the person asking you this is making any assumptions about literature being confined to a single language. If we are talking about a single language, then the word is almost always uncountable.

Answer 3

The noun 'readership' is a singular, uncountablenoun as a word for a group of people who regularly read a specific newspaper, magazine, etc.

The noun 'readership' is a singular, count-noun as a word for the job of being a reader in a university; the plural form is 'readerships'.