The word population is a collective noun that can take either a singular or plural verb, depending on the intention of the author. The example from our website is from Rule 14 of Subject and Verb Agreement and deals with the pronouns who, that, or which, and how the verb must agree with the noun in front of these pronouns. A collective noun identifies nouns collectively. This is a different situation from the sentence, “One of the men do/does all of the work.” One could also fall into the list of pronouns contained in Rule 8, “The pronouns each, everyone, every one, everybody, anyone, anybody, someone, and somebody are singular and require singular verbs. In your sentence the word staff is a collective noun that is acting as a unit. Thanks! Q. It depends on the context of the sentence. 1. The collective noun for a group of kittens is known as a kindle. The word people is a plural noun; therefore, the plural verb know is correct. Between you and me, he is a bad man. How to use collective in a sentence. If you want to have plural predicate, write or say a plural subject: dancing partners, teammates, bandmembers. The words collection and money are both singular nouns and are followed by singular verbs. “The Inca is” or “the Inca are” ? The verb of the following sentence, is it singular or plural? You are correct that the word resources is a singular noun in your sentence. But have you ever stopped to wonder where these peculiar terms actually came from? Most of those found in this book have their origins in the Medieval Books of Courtesy, among the earliest works to be published in this country. I am saying that full colours is not a collective noun but rather a series of awards that were achieved to amount to full colors and therefore full colours are awarded to John. Therefore, the verb must be plural (are) to agree with the subject. Thank you. If you are unsure, however, take a look at the context of the sentence. When a helping verb is used, the spelling of the main verb does not change.” Therefore, use the verb have with the auxiliary does. ‘Sugar and milk are added’ or ‘Sugar and milk is added’ ?? Collective nouns are used in everyday discourse, even if you aren’t aware of it. Also, we do not know what came before this sentence to justify beginning with the word But. Find both of these things with this list! Collective Plurality. When to use a singular verb with collective noun. help me on this sentence….which one is correct? The class members are acting with individuality within the unit in your example. Collective Nouns. Are they correct and I am wrong? Fill-in the black with the appropriate verb and/or pronoun. A Nest of Rumours. e.g. I am going to leave it as “were,” because “was those” sounds awful. 1. In this case people is the object of the preposition of. thank you. Fractions and percentages can be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition following. We understand from some of our Commonwealth readers that in their countries plural verbs are favored with collective nouns.
I feel the former although it sounds strange. The team of treating doctors are responsible or is responsible ? The team and staff in your four sentences each appear to be acting as a unit. 2. I am confused about this. As it stands, the sentence is ambiguous and should be rewritten. ADDucation’s list of collective nouns for people (also know as collective terms and terms of venery for people) can never be definitive but it’s fun. Or it could relate to the fact that most sharks are cold-blooded. Their is a clue that staff is not acting as a unit. However, the subject is one, which is singular and takes a singular verb. Can one use all these variations? You appear to be clinging to a rule for the sake of the rule rather than using common sense. How to use collective in a sentence.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhumba. Why is this sentence correct? Similar Games Proper Noun is a specific name to a person, place,.. 189,247 Plays Grade 2 (1744) Proper Noun. Common Collective Nouns. If necessary, use the "Search" box on the right side of the page to find a post closely related to your question or comment.Your email address will not be published.
I read this article in a newspaper here in the UK, it says: “Nearly 60 per cent of people want George Osborne to rethink his £4.4billion tax credit cuts, a poll shows.”. Our post What Does vs. What Do has more information on these confusing verbs. With simple, pithy information on everything from basic parts of speech and sentence structure to usage and grammar pitfalls, this guide provides everything you need to approach grammar with confidence. Like you, I change sentence structure to avoid this problem. If the answer is “are”, then why when referred to in the past tense, do we say, “The 80’s was a time when…..”? My emphasis in the blog “Subject and Verb Agreement with Collective Nouns” is to determine whether to use a singular or plural verb depending on whether these nouns are acting as a unit or with individuality within the unit, regardless of any UK or American tendencies. Since pack is being treated as a unit, use the singular verb is. The two decide to scam money from the public.
Since the subject is plural, use the plural verb are. what is the right subject -verb agreement for this sentence? It happens that in the UK, we tend to prefer plural nouns, while in the US I notice they prefer the singular more often than not. Collective nouns are words that name a group or collection of people or things in a way that the group is discussed as a single entity. The noun people is plural. The families attended the baseball game. Found inside – Page 12Nouns name people, places and things. A collective noun names a group. Groups have members. The members may be people, animals, or things. When the members of the collective noun are doing the same thing, the collective noun is singular ... Britons as individualists traditionally use plural verbs. Collective noun definition: A collective noun is a type of noun that identifies groups of people and things as a single unit. In your first example, “India has a team of players who are dedicated,” the team of players are acting with individuality within the unit. Semantic Plurality: English collective nouns and other ways ... - Page 19 I have finished my homework. How do you know that work, not works, is plural? The pronoun who refers to people only, but it is a myth that that may not refer to people as well as things. 4. (This is appearing in AP press releases, local newspaper articles, NYT articles, TV guide on-screen descriptions of cable programs.) Quotation Marks. ... Site members have full access to an ad-free, print-friendly version of the site. It’s not acceptable to extract the first word “one” in this context and call it the subject; the subject is “one in four….”. i’m just a bit confused actually.
I believe I can write something like, “pragmatics is an area of weakness.” Your thoughts? Yes, furniture is a mass noun. As a noun, it is a name. We consider “the Coca-Cola company” to be a singular, not a collective, noun. The Collective Noun Recognize a collective noun when you find one. Please tell me you wouldn’t…. Since you have multiple subjects in your sentence, use the plural verb are. I have finished my homework. Therefore, use the plural verb were. The word while is used as a conjunction in your example sentence. A collective noun names a group of people or things. 1. Groups of elk may have been labelled as gangs because elk bulls do something called âbuglingâ â loud screaming which can be heard for miles and miles.
One common error that arises from using collective nouns is subject-verb disagreement: writers often become confused about whether to treat a collective noun as singular or plural. Therefore, 25% becomes plural in meaning. She works too hard for her age. Nouns like “jury,” “committee,” or “group” are collective nouns. We do not understand your second question. Here is most important 100 examples of collective nouns; 1.a heap of rubbish 2.a hedge of bushes 3.a library of books 4.an outfit of clothes 5.an orchard of fruit trees 6.a pack of cards 7.a packet of letters 8.a pair of shoes 9.a quiver of arrows 10.a range of mountains 11.a ream of paper 12.a reel of film … Helping
If the collective noun is being expressed as a single unit, use a singular verb.
One of the examples given (The team were happy with their presentations) begs the question by the use of “their” as the prepositional pronoun. The United States womenâs national soccer team is bound by the terms of its collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Soccer, a federal judge ruled Friday. what is the right way to keep it short but maintain the meaning?) JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. In these worksheets students have to underline the collective nouns in the sentences. Can the word “collection” (as a collective noun) be followed by the plural verb like “the family was / the family were”? In the wild, iguanas lie intertwined in large groups and it can be difficult to see where one iguana ends and another begins. We think it could be suggestive of what happens to a person who stumbles across a group of sharks while out swimming. If you prefer to treat the collective noun as one unit, use the singular verb. In this case mangoes is the object of the preposition of. With words like proportion that indicate portions—some, all, none, etc.—look at the noun in your of phrase (object of the preposition) to determine whether to use a singular or plural verb. 1. Found inside – Page 121Forothercollective plurals,thecorresponding regular plural usually emphasizes the individuality of the members, ... (31) Collective nouns triggering plural agreement (normally when the individual members of the collection act ... He has written in a certificate “full colours is awarded to John”. If this is so, then it makes sense to me and conforms to what appears to be happening in the example of the ducks sentence.
For example, the noun collective family represents parents and children. 1. Can you tell me which one of the sentences mentioned below are grammatically correct? A collective noun photo. These sentences are much clearer and wonât cause your reader to second guess your writing. Collective Nouns (group, jury, crowd, team, etc.) Collective nouns, a special class, name groups (which are things) composed of members (usually people). Neither the teacher nor the student IS present in the affairs. “In four people” is a prepositional phrase.
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Found inside – Page 64In standard English it is acceptable to use collective nouns such as “the corporation” or “the nation-state” or “the team” as a shorthand way to refer to the members of the group. Indeed, it is interesting that in American English, ... The subject here is an example of this: “one in four people worldwide” is the subject. It was successful at conquering the enemy.
We hope The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation helps you in your work. There are, however, instances when the verb can be either singular or plural. Does the answer depend on how many notebook each student has? Check out this comprehensive list of collective noun examples. Collective Nouns Lesson If you are referring to more than one group or class, use the plural form. It is a plural noun. A collective noun looks singular, but it can be treated as singular or plural depending on whether the word refers to the group as a single entity or to its members as individuals. (Individual items.).
Which is correct: Our family sold their house. Turns out, the term is related to disappearing butlers in The Sims 3. We understand why some words can grate on our nerves or ears when they differ from what we have learned and used over the years. Right: The data is sound. The staff is going to a company-wide conference. If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
Found inside – Page 35Nouns that refer to a specific group of persons or things are called collective nouns; see the list that follows. group ... congregation Collective nouns are usually singular, except when referring to the individual members of a group. They enjoyed their day. Whatâs also interesting is that these huddles are often segregated by gender âmales have their own huddles and females have their own huddles. They are the next generation of Google Analytics, on an all-new code base, and they o... Thereâs no argument about it. Some common collective nouns are: audience, band, choir, class, company, crew, family, government, group, orchestra, party, public, staff, team. âA bed ofâ can also be used to describe a group of snakes, oysters or flowers. Basically collective noun is a group of words for example team ( hockey team , cricket team , and family is also a collective noun because family have group of a members. 'Army' may be a collective noun for ‘soldiers.' would be plural. List of collective nouns in English Grammar | Download PDF ... List of Common Collective Nouns Herd – A group of herbivore animals Pack – A group of canine animals such as wolves or dogs; also used to describe playing cards and packages containing... Flock – A group of birds; also used to discuss small hooved animals such as sheep or goats Swarm – … 2. the committee leads/lead very different lives in private. Which is correct? In this set of fun collective noun activities, students complete a worksheet to practice collective nouns and then use the nouns in a game of bingo. collective nouns - If I said ‘there’s a family,’ did I ... A collective noun is a word that refers to a set or group of people, animals or things. Therefore, the plural work is needed. Below is a 3 column fast-sorting table of 100's of collective nouns with a related noun and link to the main category. The word community is a singular noun; therefore, the singular verb has is correct. Is furniture a mass noun? For example, a group of ships is called a fleet, a group of cows is called a herd, a groupd of lions is called a pride, a group of baseball players is called a … Collective Nouns Welcome to the English section of the Internet Second Language Collective, an international community of more than a million ESL/EFL language teachers sharing self-made language teaching materials.Enjoy our free teaching resources whether you're teaching English as a second language (TESL) or foreign language (TEFL) in a school or via one-on-one tutoring. We’re sorry, but we can make no recommendation on how to properly write your sentence. “The senior class of 2012 announces its commencement exercises.”. “The target of Lesson Study are the students.” “The target of Lesson Study is the students.”. We do not have enough information to decide this matter. List of Collective Nouns for People - YOURDICTIONARY The second sentence is grammatical, but terminally awkward, so we cannot condone it. Collective Nouns | What Are Collective Nouns? Both pairs of sentences 1 and 2 are grammatically correct. In the course of the book, the reader will become acquainted with the linguistics data that lies at the heart of this debate including extensive discussion of reciprocals and of collectives (such as the committee).
The committee debates these questions carefully.
The singular verb “is” agrees with the subject. Likewise, “majority” is already plural, so if it is used in reference to more than 1 group, as in “the majority of TEAMS”, the verb is plural – to match the subject(TEAMS) which is already plural. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. i.
A collective noun is defined as a noun that identifies a group of people, animals, or things. In this example, the emphasis is on the expectations of individual, discrete members of the staff. After the qualification the class start their projects on American sports. English plural is being used in an increasing number of instances for all collective nouns. 5. Collective Nouns – Lingolia Plus Exercises. A list of drugs and their prices was submitted.
If not, then can you explain, please? Just one query mentioned above has created a doubt in my mind. Mother always says the dust pile __________ from one spot to another, and ___ keeps her constantly busy. The team is headed to the nationals since winning the state finals. In this example, family takes the singular verb is. A range of learning paths designed to empower businesses and individuals on their journey towards GCP certification. However, the collective noun was most likely inspired by the rhinoâs tendency to charge at anything unfamiliar, although fights between rhinos are rare because male rhinos (or bulls) tend to avoid each other unless they are competing for the same female. I wonder if there is a definitive Legal interpretation of the verb to be used in this case ? Is this correct? The word students is not a collective noun. I can´t see what is complicated about that. Thanks. Ask students to return to their desk. It there are two dancers on the floor, there is one couple, if there are four dancers on the floor, there are two couples. Therefore, write the following: Ask the students to return to their desks. Increase your uptake of collective nouns and replace the word group with apt group words like pride, bunch, crowd, gaggle, troupe, as you practice collective nouns with a multitude of exercises like matching, filling in the blanks, and underlining. The word “data” is already plural. This is usually the case.
Then you can use—without debate—a plural pronoun. Found inside – Page 173A collective noun is a word that “collects” together a few or many members of a group to signify that all the members comprise a single unit. We use collective nouns frequently, without thinking much about the actual concept; ... Unrelated comments may be deleted. If this is a written exercise for students, we assume you have provided instructions to fill in the blank with the correct word. As you read the examples below, notice that the members of the collective nouns are not acting in unison: I have a related question about singular or plural nouns in a clause referring to a plural subject. : Underline? Perhaps it is more common in Commonwealth nations. “Loss of life and serious injury in our skies are unacceptable.” Or 2. Thank you for the compliment on our website. Itâs amusing to imagine a swarm of bees flying in bicycle formation, but the real reason this is a collective noun for bees is because the word âbikeâ is an old English word which means a colony, nest, or swarm. Which one is correct? In this context, we recommend that you recast the sentence as The jurors lead very different lives in private. A large proportion of subjects with this disease was reported. It is a plural noun. An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought. While it is acceptable to treat words like team and staff as plural nouns in certain circumstances, it can sound strange to your readers. We have faith in citizen’s participation and the strength of civil society. Bespoke courses, tailored to your needs. If the collective noun (staff) is acting altogether as a single unit, you use a singular verb.
The key is that collective nouns refer to a group whose members can be counted. 4.
“The first five questions was/were related to….”. If I said ‘there’s a family,’ did I mention members of the family or did I mention just the group itself? Whether you write “The ’80s is or are returning” or “The ’80s was or were returning” depends upon whether you are considering the decade as a single unit of time or whether you will be considering trends or events that occurred during particular years. Note that our Rule 6 of “Subject and Verb Agreement” states “As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and.” There are exceptions to this rule when the subjects or nouns in the sentence form a single entity or unit, collective idea, or oneness of idea.
Used alone, they are usually lowercased. (please forgive me for these silly questions, it’s not my native language and “google translate” got me all confused) Lets say I’m trying to write those sentences and to keep them short(bolded as an Headline or bullet points). We can deliver at any location, in the UK or globally, or via virtual classrooms. Please help me confirm the following sentence is correct: “It is important to attend the meeting because ‘resources’ is such an important topic.”. Question 15. Grammar Bytes! Source: http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/collnoun.htm. Collective Noun is a name used for a group of people, animals or objects that we group and we refer to as a whole unit that represents its parts.. Two examples of collective nouns are "team" and "government", which are both words referring to groups of (usually) people. We imagine that Theodore Bernstein would likely respond that your example fits nicely into the ten percent of cases where couple is regarded as singular. One in five plays wins. I have finished my homework. However, the term itself is singular. I’m having trouble with singular-plural subject mixes where it seems an argument could be made for each form. Examples: The data is sound. We assume the sentence refers to more than one citizen.
We do not understand what this means. please provide me lot of illustrations. Do not be misled by what follows of.” Since this sentence does not contain who, that, or which, follow Rule 8: One of the men does all of the work. It takes two to tango. Please help me write these correct in my CV. Therefore, write “Many a citizen of a country is willing to put up with the world.”, This thread is quite long so I have not been able to read all o fit. Staff can be singular or plural, depending on the context. This example was on Longman Dictionary Online.
I thought the first one is correct, but perhaps I’m wrong. You should match your collective noun with a singular verb (e.g., the group is, the team believes, the crowd was moving) unless the context of your sentence makes a singular verb seem awkward or wrong. Bottom line: a group “is” and groups “are”. Please be informed that starting today, Jan. 19, 2016, all teachers are requested to assist during the two breaks & the dismissal time. Therefore it is regarded as singular in form. Similar: In the case in question, it is the purpose of a process. If the collective noun (team) is acting altogether as a single unit, you use a singular verb. The Chicago Manual of Style says, “For measures or money or any other quantities, when the items form a whole that isn’t meant to be divided, use a singular verb.”. As there aren’t just four people in the world, one in four represents a number larger than one and is thus plural. A collective noun refers to a group of people or things. I am hoping for your response! I know that many would disagree. Can you please throw some light on this and explain what one should do with such constructions?
Collective Nouns It happened to me yesterday, when Google Suggest churned out: âmy butler disappearedâ. Right: The data have been carefully collected. Although a collective noun refers to a group of many things, it is usually singular in form. (ans: meets) how come ‘meets’ is the answer? If someone’s name ends in s, we must add -es for the plural. The phrase many a is followed by a singular countable noun and takes a singular verb. 2. five months are over. Unless you are writing out a set of instructions, we prefer using the article the before the word students. Choose He is two metres tall.He is(very- extremely)tall. In the sentence A family of ducks were resting on the grass, the subject of the sentence is family, which is a collective noun. No. (A unit.) If you are the author, you determine whether majority of the population represents a single group or multiple groups (perhaps because they live in various different urban areas). 3. This collective noun conjured up an image of hundreds of clams cosily sleeping side-by-side. “1-in-15 people in Wisconsin doesn’t have health insurance” or “1-in-15 people in Wisconsin don’t have health insurance.”, If the subject is one, a singular verb should be used. I just want to confirm because i got confused of which is the correct between the two; i actually thought it was people loves you because “people” is plural it needs singular verb but someone told me its ‘people love you’ because “people” may seem plural but it is counted as singular. The plural verb were and pronoun their are used if the writer intends to convey that there were some differences of opinion among the team, but overall they were happy with the presentations. Subjects can be multi-word, as we know. I came across a sentence that I believe has a subject/verb agreement problem. Better: The members of the committee are debating their decision. The first example suggests that each student has only one notebook, but it also could suggest that only one notebook exists in the room. The term “collective noun” refers to a group of persons or objects. Collective nouns are common throughout these writings. Different groups of collective nouns exist.
Some collective nouns may take either a singular or a plural verb, depending on their use in the sentence. When you work in SEO and spend a lot of time looking at search queries on Google you tend to stumble upon some funny things that people search for. Rule is, perhaps, too rigid a word. Out of context, words and phrases can be weird. I realize language evolves but I will continue to use the singular verb with all collective nouns and when I hear otherwise it will continue to grate on my nerves. If youâve ever been told to âthink outside the boxâ or to âgrab the bull by the hornsâ, then yo... We have trained thousands of people all over the world. If it’s not true I would like to know the reason. This problem is perhaps best avoided by rewriting the sentence: The licensed, credentialed, and multidisciplinary professionals on our team work together…. Idioms are bizarre. Am I wrong?
Thank you. Collective Nouns
Yes, a group of elk is called a gang. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_caterpillars. Hence “are” should be used, not “is”.
“Stop Traffic! Heat changes the _______ of the candle(period or question mark)? Flexible learning plans to support brands on every step of your digital transformation journey. (See Rule 8 of Subject-Verb Agreement regarding portion words.). Assuming that your family did not sell a house owned by another family, we would think that “Our family sold our house” would be the better sentence. It would be safer to rewrite the sentence: How much milk and how much butter are in the fridge? 1(singular) group of data “is”. The distinct members of the band are practicing their specific instruments.
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