![]() In each of these examples, an American writer might insert members after the collective noun. American-English speakers, in particular, tend to to treat collective nouns as singular in most cases. form-meaning pairs: a collective noun is a noun which has a singular form, but (at least on the surface of it) plural reference. (Not sure what a collective noun is Easy, its simply the. ![]() ![]() These, however, might sound odd to some speakers of English. Heres the perfect list to brush up your knowledge of collective nouns for animals you might see. When the meaning of the sentence requires that individuals within the group be differentiated, plural forms work better-for example, the team have various training regimens the staff are unable to agree among themselves my family live all over the country. But plural verbs, at least in these examples, would not be considered incorrect. When the noun is treated collectively and the individuals within the group aren’t important to the meaning of the sentence, singular verb forms work well-for example, the team is in last place the staff is in the meeting room the family has moved out. ![]() But there are no clear rules, and in many cases either approach would work. The consensus among English grammar and usage authorities is that collective nouns sometimes take singular verb forms (e.g., the team is) and sometimes plural verb forms ( the team are). ![]()
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