Subject and Verb Agreement with Collective Nouns
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Subject and Verb Agreement with Collective Nouns
Do you use a singular or plural verb to match a collective noun such as team or staff? The answer is, It depends. If these nouns are acting as a unit, use a singular verb.
Example: The team is heading for practice this afternoon.
If the sentence indicates more individuality, use a plural verb.
Example: The team are eating with their families tonight.
Would you choose is or are in the example below?
Example (an actual headline from CNN.com): Nearly one in four people worldwide is/are Muslim.
People is NOT a collective noun like team or staff. It is a plural noun. However, the subject is one, which is singular and takes a singular verb. So the answer is is. In the above sentence, the prepositional phrase is in four people. This means that people is the object of the preposition.
Let’s get real here, however: The intention in this headline is to let us know that nearly 25% of the world’s population is Muslim. That intention gets lost by focusing on one is. It might be better to reword the sentence: Nearly 25% of people in the world are Muslim.
Why is 25% of people are correct? The subject of this sentence is 25%. Fractions and percentages, like team and staff, can be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition following. In this case people is the object of the preposition of. We have already said that people is plural. Therefore, 25% becomes plural in meaning.
Example: Twelve percent of the building has/have been renovated.
The subject is twelve percent, which will be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition that follows. In this sentence, the object of the preposition is building, which is always singular. So the correct answer is has.
To learn more about subject and verb agreement, click here.
Ready to challenge yourself?
Pop Quiz
1. The team is/are headed to the nationals since winning the state finals.
2. The mock trial team was/were happy with /its/their presentations to the judge.
3. Nearly 25% of the population is/are Muslim.
4. Our staff meets/meet on Tuesday mornings to discuss customer complaints.
5. Our staff works/work hard to meet their goals and deadlines.
Pop Quiz Answers
1. The team is headed to the nationals since winning the state finals.
Team is being used as a cohesive unit so a singular verb is required.
2. The mock trial team was happy with its presentations to the judge.
The singular verb was and pronoun its are used if the writer intends to convey that team members were generally all happy with the presentations. OR
The mock trial team were happy with their presentations to the judge.
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.
3. Nearly 25% of the population is Muslim.
The word population is a collective noun that can take either a singular or plural verb, depending on the intention of the author. The intention here is to indicate that this percentage represents a single group.
4. Our staff meets on Tuesday mornings to discuss customer complaints.
Staff, a collective noun, is acting as a single unit in this sentence.
5. Our staff work hard to meet their goals and deadlines.
Their is a clue that staff is not acting as a unit. Therefore, the plural work is needed.
How do you know that work, not works, is plural? Think about which word you would use with he and which word you would use with they.
Examples:
She works too hard for her age.
They work harder when the foreman is around.
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.
I respectufully disagree with your use of the plural verb form when referring to “team or staff”. I recently heard a national TV reporter use a plural verb when refering to a married COUPLE–she used it twice. That prompted me to look into it as it is contrary to what I learned in public school (1937 to 1950.) 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.
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. The Chicago Manual of Style advises, “A mass noun (sometimes called a noncount noun) is one that denotes something uncountable, either because it is abstract {cowardice} {evidence} or because it refers to an indeterminate aggregation of people or things {the faculty} {the bourgeoisie}; the latter type is also called a collective noun. As the subject of a sentence, a mass noun usually takes a singular verb {the litigation is varied}. But in a collective sense, it may take either a singular or a plural verb form {the ruling majority is unlikely to share power} {the majority are nonmembers}. A singular verb emphasizes the group; a plural verb emphasizes the individual members.”
As we mentioned in our blog on “Subject and Verb Agreement with Collective Nouns,” if the nouns are acting as a unit, use a singular verb, but if the sentence indicates more individuality, use a plural verb.
Just because you heard a news reporter say it that way does NOT mean it was correct. The number of “journalists” who cannot spell or write properly is appalling. Apparently they’re no longer required to be able to use proper grammar or spelling in order to get their degrees.
Neither John nor we indicated that just because a reporter says something it is correct.
Agreement or disagreement with a rule of grammar does not change anything. The sub-verb agreement rule regarding collective nouns is what it is———whether or not one “respectfully disagrees” with it.
Collective nouns refer to single entities comprised of multiple individuals. Good writers will make a distinction between the group, which is singular, and its components: The team is going to the playoffs. Team members are going home for the holidays.
John
Language is more than a bag of rules. You can think of collectives in two ways – as a collective of parts or as parts of a collective. Both are utterly identical in ‘total’ meaning, and so the need for the other can seem quite superfulous at first. A bit like trying to decide which is best, driving on the left or on the right side of the road. 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.
John,
I have just read the sentence ” The couple is to honeymoon in Barbados” in one of our broadsheet newspapers and unlike you this sounded discordant to my ears. Having finished my Secondary education in 1966 I can only presume that there may have been different emphasis during the education process in America and Ireland. Incidentally when I queried a number of friends -mostly under 30 – I got an initial 60/40% tending towards using “are” in the above sentence.
I wonder if there is a definitive Legal interpretation of the verb to be used in this case ?
The language scholar Theodore M. Bernstein wrote: “Whether to regard couple as singular or plural is a question that returns again and again. Most writers prefer to treat the word as a plural most of the time … The advice here is to favor the plural in nine cases out of ten.”
I would consider it plural. It takes two to tango.
In a tango dance contest there can be only one winner- the couple that dances best. It there are two dancers on the floor, there is one couple, if there are four dancers on the floor, there are two couples. Ergo, the winning couple is one; maybe two dancers, but only one couple. Same with team and band- at least in America. Only one team wins the Super Bowl and the World Series. It is the team with the most points at the end of the game. The winning team is on the field, talking to the press. If you want to have plural predicate, write or say a plural subject: dancing partners, teammates, bandmembers.
I understand the discussion about plural nouns and using either singular or plural verbs.
My beef is that the winner should be the couple “who” (instead of “that”) gets the most points.
“Who” is for people; “that” is for anything else.
The pronoun who refers to people only, but it is a myth that that may not refer to people as well as things. It has for centuries. The King James version of the Bible, for example, refers to “He that is without sin.” We will acknowledge this use of that in the eleventh edition of The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, which will be published in February 2014. We will also be making this change to the GrammarBook.com website at that time.
It’s a bit late in the day, I know. I don’t know whether this has been mentioned already or whether it’s because I’m English, but the whole basis of the assertion by the author is fundamentally flawed. You can’t simply extract the word “one” from the phrase it is inextricably connected to and call it the subject just because it suits you.
Subjects can be multi-word, as we know. The subject here is an example of this: “one in four people worldwide” is the subject. You can’t just take the first word and call it the subject and the rest of the words prepositional. Could you write this sentence without “in four people worldwide” and retain any sense of its intended meaning? No.
As there aren’t just four people in the world, one in four represents a number larger than one and is thus plural. Hence “are” should be used, not “is”.
Perhaps you missed our home page which states, “This site and the Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation represent American English rules.” We stand by the fact that the simple subject of the phrase “one in four people worldwide” is one. “In four people” is a prepositional phrase.
I am in a bit of a conundrum with my boss. He has written in a certificate “full colours is awarded to John”. 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. Am I wrong?
In America, we are not particularly familiar with full colours (Full Colours). Perhaps it is more common in Commonwealth nations. On the surface, it seems that this award could be interpreted in the singular or plural depending on the context.
Now, now. If you are referring to two married people, would you not say, “There is a couple”? You wouldn’t say, “There are a couple.” Do you ever precede a plural noun using the article ‘a’? Couple can certainly be singular.
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.
So should the sentence read:
Option 1) 50% of X amount was paid out; or
Option 2) 50% of X amount were paid out?
Thanks.
Percentages are expressed in numerals except when they occur at the beginning of a sentence. Our blog “Subject and Verb Agreement with Collective Nouns” states, “Fractions and percentages, like team and staff, can be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition following.” The subject of the sentence is fifty percent. The object of the preposition of is a monetary amount. 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.”
Fifty percent of $500 was paid out.
UK English makes no sense:
Our team meets on Tuesdays. The team work hard.
Our staff meet on Tuesdays. The staff work hard.
I think those would be likeliest.
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. The team and staff in your four sentences each appear to be acting as a unit. Therefore, the singular verbs meets and works should be used in each case.
Is “1% of the Americans comprises the richest of the world” correct- grammatically?
The subject of this sentence is one percent. Fractions and percentages, like team and staff, can be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition following. In this case Americans is the object of the preposition of. Since Americans is plural, one percent becomes plural in meaning. In the example sentence, the word the is unnecessary and the word richest appears to be an adjective that is missing a word to modify. Also, the word comprise is incorrectly used.
One percent of Americans are among the richest people in the world.
Please what about this sentence “50% of the two mangoes is/are spoilt”?
I think you can give us a more practical explanation on the use of fractions.
Your sentence is awkward and should be recast. Since 50 percent of two is one, the sentence is more simply written as “One of the two mangoes is spoiled.” (The subject of the sentence is “One,” which is singular. Therefore, use the singular verb “is.”)
However, if we remove the word “two” from your sentence, in formal American English it would be written as “Fifty percent of the mangoes are spoiled.” The subject of your sentence is 50%. Fractions and percentages can be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition following. In this case mangoes is the object of the preposition of. Mangoes is plural; therefore, use are. Also, our Rule 1 of Writing Numbers says, “Spell out all numbers beginning a sentence.”
Thank you for your helpful blog! Is the sentence “The majority of the population reside in urban areas” in correct form? Thank you
With words like majority 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. If the object of the preposition is singular, use a singular verb. If the object of the preposition is plural, use a plural verb. The word population is a collective noun that can take either a singular or plural verb, depending on the intention of the author. 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).
1(singular) group of data “is”. More than 1 group of data (ex. physical and chemical data) “are”. So substitute the word ” group” as the noun, or “groups” as the noun and you can’t go wrong. The word “data” is already plural. 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. I disagree that you can say “data are” unless you are talking about more than 1 group of data. Bottom line: a group “is” and groups “are”.
The Associated Press Stylebook classifies data as a plural noun, normally taking plural verbs and pronouns. An additional note indicates that some words, such as data, that are plural in form become collective nouns and take singular verbs when the group or quantity is regarded as a unit. Examples:
The data is sound. (A unit.)
The data have been carefully collected. (Individual items.)
With words like majority 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.
How would you treat the word, ‘college?’ Seems to me it is in the same family as ‘team’ and ‘staff’ in that it can be treated as both singular or plural, depending on the sentence. Most of the time it is treated as singular as in:
‘The college celebrated its anniversary this year.’
But if, say, the college’s stakeholders or students are being referred to, can it be plural, as in,
‘I really like Humber College’s mission statement–theirs is the easiest to understand.’
Your thoughts?
In your second sentence the word “College’s” is possessive rather than plural. We recommend emphasis on the subject of the sentence, which is “mission statement.” Also, in formal writing an em dash should be used sparingly.
I really like Humber College’s mission statement. It is the easiest to understand.
Could you please help me? Which is correct of the following two sentences?
A large proportion of subjects with this disease were reported.
A large proportion of subjects with this disease was reported.
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. If the object of the preposition is singular, use a singular verb. If the object of the preposition is plural, use a plural verb. Since the object of the preposition is “subjects,” use the plural verb “were.”
A large proportion of subjects with this disease were reported.
What to punctuation mark should be used in this sentence?
The candle becomes shorter. Heat changes the _______ of the candle(period or question mark)?
If this is a written exercise for students, we assume you have provided instructions to fill in the blank with the correct word. Since your sentence is not a question, use a period. Heat changes the _______ of the candle.
“A family of ducks was resting on the grass.”
“A family of ducks were resting on the grass.”
Sentences of this form are more difficult than the examples above, because the verb immediately follows the plural noun while the subject is indisputably singular and is enforced by the article. It makes one envy those whose vernacular uses only “was” as in “Them ducks was ….”
In these no-win cases, I usually make the choice that seems less likely to disrupt the majority of readers, though it is grammatically wrong. Agreed?
(Would be grateful for your reply by email.)
In formal writing, we recommend the grammatically correct construction even if it might trouble some readers. In this case, the collective noun, family, is singular as each duck is doing the same thing and therefore acting as a unit: “A family of ducks was resting on the grass.”
I am confused about this. You wrote earlier:
‘Example (an actual headline from CNN.com): Nearly one in four people worldwide is/are Muslim.
People is NOT a collective noun like team or staff. It is a plural noun. However, the subject is one, which is singular and takes a singular verb. So the answer is is. In the above sentence, the prepositional phrase is in four people. This means that people is the object of the preposition.’
Are you saying that the correct answer would then be:
Nearly one in four people worldwide are Muslim.
rather than, ‘…the answer is is.’?
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. If not, then can you explain, please?
Many thanks.
The correct sentence is Nearly one in four people worldwide is Muslim. The subject of the sentence is one, which is singular and takes a singular verb. The rule you are writing about only applies to collective nouns. The word one is not a collective noun, it is a singular noun. In the sentence A family of ducks were resting on the grass, the subject of the sentence is family, which is a collective noun. In this case, the writer may decide whether to use a singular or plural verb, depending on whether he thinks of the “family” as a unit or as individual beings within that unit.
If we use a mass noun (such as “furniture,” that normally takes a singular verb) but talk about two or more units, should we use a singular or a plural verb?
– Two pieces of furniture are available.
– Two pieces of furniture is available.
My bet is that the verb should be plural (e.g. are). However, I am a non-native speaker of English and got confused after Reading here that the verb must agree with the object of the preposition (which I think is “furniture” in this case).
Any help will be greatly appreciated!
The subject in your sentence is pieces. Therefore, the verb must be plural (are) to agree with the subject. The rule you are referring to applies only to portion words such as a lot, some, all, etc., which are singular or plural depending on what they refer to in the sentence, which is usually the object of the preposition of.
Could you please help me? I can use the word “State” like a collective noum and to write the verbs in plural. When I am talking about State as an isntitucion. For example, The state have to look after the citizens.
Regarding capitalization, Chicago Manual of Style says, “Words denoting political divisions—from empire, republic, and state down to ward and precinct—are capitalized when they follow a name and are used as an accepted part of the name. When preceding the name, such terms are usually capitalized in names of countries but lowercased in entities below the national level. Used alone, they are usually lowercased. Example: Washington State; the state of Washington.”
It does take a singular verb: The state has to look after its citizens.
Is this correct??
“The Senior Class of 2012 announce its commencement exercises.”
Thank you
Class titles may be capitalized when used formally with a specific school such as Washington High School Class of 2012. Terms denoting student status such as senior and junior are lowercased. Also, since the senior class of 2012 is acting as a single unit (further evidenced by the use of the singular possessive pronoun its), the singular verb announces should be used.
“The senior class of 2012 announces its commencement exercises.”
I came across a sentence that I believe has a subject/verb agreement problem. Please find the example below:
This was taken from your web-site
He is one of the men who does/do the work.
The word in front of who is men, which is plural. Therefore, use the plural verb do.
Now, the sentence below, in assessment, has a subject/conflict, when your above stated rule is applied.
This was taken from Purdue’s web-site
An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought.
Isn’t both sentences follow the same pattern and have the same elements; and therefore, they should carry the same subject/verb agreement.
You have found a couple of tricky sentences, and we must be careful selecting the correct rules to apply. 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. The Purdue example does not contain the pronouns who, that, or which. It does follow our Rule 2 of Finding Subjects and Verbs, which states, “A subject will come before a phrase beginning with of.” That subject is “group” and it agrees with the singular verb “contains.”
Here are my doubts.
1) “We have a team of professionals who take care of their duties.”
2) “We have a team of professionals, which takes care of its duties.”
3) India has a team of players who are dedicated.
Which of these is right? Can one use all these variations? I have come across people preferring the first and the third ones, and they have argued that we should use ‘who’ in both cases because it comes just after “professionals” and “players”, both of which are living beings. And we can only use which after inanimate things.
Can you please throw some light on this and explain what one should do with such constructions?
Your first and third sentences are correct. In the first sentence, note that the object of of is the entire phrase “professionals who take care of their duties.” In the second sentence, the object of of is the phrase “professionals who are dedicated.” The pronoun that instead of who would also be acceptable. The second sentence is grammatical, but terminally awkward, so we cannot condone it.
I would like help from you. Can you tell me which one of the sentences mentioned below are grammatically correct?
1. I have finished my homework. I will take rest now.
or
I have finished my homework. I am going to take rest now.
2. I have finished my homework. I think I am going to have a cup of tea.
I have finished my homework. I think I will have a cup of tea.
Both pairs of sentences 1 and 2 are grammatically correct. However, regarding pair number 1, in American English, we would omit the word “take.” We would simply say “I will rest now” or “I am going to rest now.”
Could you please tell me which of these two sentences is correct?
1. “Loss of life and serious injury in our skies are unacceptable.”
Or
2. “Loss of life and serious injury in our skies is unacceptable.”
Thank you!
Our Rule 6 of Subject and Verb Agreement says, “As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and.”
“Loss of life and serious injury in our skies are unacceptable.”
I receive your newsletter and always enjoy, and learn from, your very clear and concise explanations of grammar rules.
One thing I read and hear that diverts my attention from what is being said to how it’s being said involves number agreement. For instance, someone may say “My number one fear is heart attacks.” Obviously, the speaker fears “a heart attack” or simply “heart attack,” yet so often the subject and predicate nominative (if I remember my junior high school English correctly) don’t agree in number. In my career as a court reporter, I was not in a position to alter any spoken words, but as a fledgling writer, I still reword sentences to avoid this construction simply because it doesn’t sound right.
Secondly, another question involving number: “Would everyone please take their seat.” I don’t think anyone would say, “The drivers got in their car and left,” yet it’s common to hear that they should “take their seat.”
Would appreciate your help. Thanks so much,
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, we agree that we often see and hear incorrect subject and verb agreement. In the case of your first sentence, “My number one fear is heart attacks,” the sentence is not incorrect, but it is awkwardly stated. The subject of the sentence is “fear,” which is singular. The singular verb “is” agrees with the subject. The object, “heart attacks,” is plural, which makes the sentence sound odd. Does the person fear having a single heart attack or having multiple heart attacks? We don’t know.
Regarding the second sentence, our Rule 8 of Subject and Verb Agreement says, “The pronouns each, everyone, every one, everybody, anyone, anybody, someone, and somebody are singular and require singular verbs.” The grammatically correct sentence could be “Would all passengers please take their seats,” or the cumbersome “Would everyone please take his or her seat.”
Sally,
I agree wholeheartedly with your statement about subjects and predicate nominatives that are different in number. Like you, I change sentence structure to avoid this problem.
The sentence that I first noticed with this particular issue is the bible verse, “The wages of sin is death.”
help me on this sentence..which one is correct?
1. But if the team consisted of 10 or more, grouping of teams will be consummated.
2.But if the teams consisted of 10 or more, grouping of teams will be consummated.
“team” or “teams” over the verb consisted
From what you have stated, we cannot tell whether you are addressing your comment at one team or more than one team, whether you are referring to the number of teams, or to the number of players on each team. Also, we do not know what came before this sentence to justify beginning with the word But. Finally, grouping of teams will be consummated is an odd phrasing. We do not understand what this means. We’re sorry, but we can make no recommendation on how to properly write your sentence.
I was going through the blog and believe me it is quite a helpful one. Just one query mentioned above has created a doubt in my mind.
Could you please tell me which of these two sentences is correct?
1. “Loss of life and serious injury in our skies are unacceptable.”
Or
2. “Loss of life and serious injury in our skies is unacceptable.”
As per your answer above the 1st option is correct but I have read a rule that “If two singular nouns joined by and refer to the SAME THING the verb used with them should be singular.
Hence I am a little confused. It will be great if you can elaborate a little on the words “same thing” in the rule I have stated above.
Many Thanks.
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. (You called it “the same thing” but that may be too restrictive.) Examples we have seen where a singular verb is used with two subjects connected by and include “Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite snack,” “Profit and loss is important to every business,” and “Spaghetti and meatballs goes well with garlic bread.” In these cases, the interpretation of “oneness of idea” is essentially up to the author of the sentence. In view of this, either “Loss of life and serious injury in our skies are unacceptable” or “Loss of life and serious injury in our skies is unacceptable” is all right.
I come from a bygone age when, from the age of nine years, I was taught to parse sentences. Additionally, I studied Latin for four years in my adolescence and at the same time became reasonably proficient in French. I speak Hungarian as well. I believe I have a reasonably firm grasp of grammar.
A collective noun is a singular noun – always. Therefore, when it is the subject of a verb, that verb is conjugated in its singular forms. Therefore, an army always IS, a parliament always IS, a couple always IS.
The reason why some people think correct grammar might sometimes sound strange is because formal grammar has not been taught in our schools for decades (it stopped being taught in Australian schools in the 1970s, though it has returned in a cruder form recently) – I believe for ideological reasons. People simply are not used to hearing English spoken in its correct form and revert to the constructions they hear commonly, often on that great educator of the masses: television.
Not only do the present teachers not know grammar but those who taught those teachers did not know it. Consequently, this knowledge has been lost and the result is that English has become even more chaotic than it was previously. What is now taught in our schools (at least in my country) is a pale and poor reflection of the richness and depth of grammar that was taught before.
It follows, we are confused about collective nouns, ratios (by that I include percentages) and apostrophes. To add further insult to literacy, spelling has become an inconvenient irrelevance.
(Don’t get me started about apostrophes…)
Our English language evolves whether we like it, or whether we like the reasons for it, or not. We are following The Chicago Manual of Style’s rule, which says, “When the subject is a collective noun conveying the idea of unity or multitude, the verb is singular {the nation is powerful}. When the subject is a collective noun conveying the idea of plurality, the verb is plural {the faculty were divided in their sentiments}.”
help me on this sentence….which one is correct?
1. five months is over.
2. five months are over.
A period of time, when considered as a unit, takes a singular verb: Five months is over.
You could also write “The five-month waiting period is over” since the noun is now period, which also is singular.
I am a researcher and I want to know about the common errors in subject-verb agreement and I wish I have some of the theoretical framework and conceptual framework of your book. I’ll use it as a reference.
We hope The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation helps you in your work.
I have a question I’m sure I know the answer to but would like clarification on since I use the phrase daily in my work.
90 days jail were ordered
or
90 days jail was ordered.
Seems like either days is probably the subject since it should probably read 90 days of jail were ordered, making jail part of a preposition phrase.
Would love your opinion. Thanks!
Our Rule 13 of Subject and Verb Agreement says, “Use a singular verb with sums of money or periods of time.”
Examples:
Ten dollars is a high price to pay.
Five years is the maximum sentence for that offense.
Also, Rule 16 of Writing Numbers says, “Write out a number if it begins a sentence.”
Therefore, your sentence should be written “Ninety days jail was ordered.” Or, avoid these sticky areas with “The defendant was sentenced to 90 days in jail.”
I would like to know about the ‘A group of schools invites’ or ‘invite’ for some occasion.Our school is going to hold a programme and we are a part of other two schools or rather it is a group of schools….So what should be use as verb agreement here? Carmel group of schools invites you or Carmel group of schools invite you…..
The word group is a collective noun. Collective nouns can be tricky because it is up to the author of the sentence to determine whether the noun is acting as a single unit, or whether the sentence indicates more individuality. In your sentence, if there is one program and you want to emphasize that the group of schools is coming together as a unit to sponsor the program, you should write “Carmel group of schools invites you…” If you want to emphasize that the three schools individually are sponsoring the event, write “Carmel group of schools invite you…”
Thank you for your clearly stated and helpful responses on this topic. I’m having trouble with singular-plural subject mixes where it seems an argument could be made for each form. Which is correct in the following examples?
1. A series of forums begin today
2. A series of forums begins today
and
1. A group of doctors is traveling to Haiti
2. A group of doctors are traveling to Haiti.
Thank you.
And along the same lines:
“There are a total of 39 candidates.”
A series is singular, while several series, multiple series, etc. would be plural. Therefore, “A series of forums begins today” is correct.
Similarly, “A group of doctors is traveling to Haiti” is correct.
As for total, it follows roughly the same rules as number: a number of/total of will generally be plural, the number of/total of will be singular. Therefore, “There are a total of 39 candidates” is correct.
In the case of a group of doctors is travelling ….in the earlier rules you’ve mentioned that a collective noun followed by a plural object of preposition agrees to a plural verb in various instances…. Eg “India has a team of players who are dedicated” here we use ‘are’..
similarly, group is a collective noun followed by doctors.. should’nt it it be “a group of doctors are traveling to haiti?”
in the same lines..
a family of ducks were resting on the grass
Our response of April 20, 2012, now reflects the family acting as a unit, “A family of ducks was resting on the grass.”
Some collective nouns may take either a singular or a plural verb, depending on their use in the sentence. Collective nouns can be tricky because it is up to the author of the sentence to determine whether the noun is acting as a single unit, or whether the sentence indicates more individuality. In your first example, “India has a team of players who are dedicated,” the team of players are acting with individuality within the unit. In your sentence “A group of doctors is traveling to Haiti,” the word group is a collective noun that is acting as a unit. Therefore, it is treated as a singular noun and uses the singular verb is.
This is very helpful. Thank you for your time!
You are welcome. We are glad you found our website helpful.
On this page, https://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/subjectVerbAgree.asp, in rule 14
“He is one of the men who does/do the work.
The word in front of who is men, which is plural. Therefore, use the plural verb do.”
Shouldn’t the answer be “does”?
I am asking because even though “men” is plural, the “one of the men” is indicating a singular object which would require the use of a singular verb.
I would just like to know if I am incorrect with this thought.
The sentence you cite is intentionally meant to illustrate how Rule 14 works. Again, Rule 14 says, “Sometimes the pronoun who, that, or which is the subject of a verb in the middle of the sentence. The pronouns who, that, and which become singular or plural according to the noun directly in front of them. So, if that noun is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb.” Since who is in the middle of the sentence, preceded by the noun men, which is plural, we use the plural verb do. You need not consider the word one in the sentence.
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. 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.
Brilliant! This has bothered me for a long time. Now I can confidently explain why staff TAKES vacation time. I am still bothered by using plurals to modify singular collective nouns with plural subjects. I would feel better if staff MEMBERS take separate vacations.
Yes, adding the word members helps clarify the sentence.
“Stop Traffic! The Bush Family Are Related To A Slave Trader”.
Shouldn’t the verb in this case be “is”?
This brings up a larger point. English plural is being used in an increasing number of instances for all collective nouns. (This is appearing in AP press releases, local newspaper articles, NYT articles, TV guide on-screen descriptions of cable programs.) It seems to be the beginning of an incremental approach to the using of English rules of grammar in lieu of American rules of grammar.
Do you see this trend? If so, do you know why it is happening?
We agree; the verb should be “is.” We have not noticed English plural being used in an increasing number of instances for all collective nouns. AP Stylebook’s rules regarding collective nouns are as follows:
Nouns that denote a unit take singular verbs and pronouns: class, committee, crowd, family, group, herd, jury, orchestra, team.
Some usage examples: The committee is meeting to set its agenda. The jury reached its verdict. A herd of cattle was sold.
Team names and musical group names that are plural take plural verbs. The Yankees are in first place. The Jonas Brothers are popular.
Team or group names with no plural forms also take plural verbs: The Miami Heat are battling for third place. Other examples: Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz.
Many singular names take singular verbs: Coldplay is on tour. Boston is favored in the playoffs. The Cardinal is in the NCAA tournament.
But some proper names that are plural in form take a singular verb: Brooks Brothers is holding a sale.
PLURAL IN FORM: Some words that are plural in form become collective nouns and take singular verbs when the group or quantity is regarded as a unit.
Right: A thousand bushels is a good yield. (A unit.)
Right: A thousand bushels were created. (Individual items.)
Right: The data is sound. (A unit.)
Right: The data have been carefully collected. (Individual items.)
Is furniture a mass noun? if so, is there such a possibility to use it in plural form. i’m just a bit confused actually. please help me know.Does it require a plural or singular verb? please provide me lot of illustrations. thank you. god bless!!!!
Yes, furniture is a mass noun. It is considered singular and requires a singular verb.
Your new furniture is beautiful.
Her furniture was delivered yesterday.
That furniture makes the room look smaller.
Our living room furniture needs to be replaced soon.
Is this correct?
“Now I understand why people in Saudi keeps on asking Panadol eventhough they aren’t in pain.”
or should I say,
“Now I understand why people in Saudi keep on asking Panadol eventhough they aren’t in pain.”
The word people is a plural noun so you need the plural verb keep. Note other needed corrections in italics.
“Now I understand why people in Saudi Arabia keep on asking for Panadol even though they aren’t in pain.” OR “Now I understand why people in Saudi Arabia keep on taking Panadol even though they aren’t in pain.”
Are both of these correct or only one?
“A group of cowboys are sitting around the campfire”
“A group of cowboys is sitting around the campfire
Since the group is acting as a unit and is not a fraction or percentage, write “A group of cowboys is sitting around the campfire.”
Our staff meets/meet on Tuesday mornings to discuss customer complaints.(ans: meets)
how come ‘meets’ is the answer? my doubt is the staff are going to discuss the customer complaints so i feel like ‘meet’ is the answer.
In your sentence the word staff is a collective noun that is acting as a unit. Therefore, in American English, it is treated as a singular noun and uses the singular verb meets. However, in British English, the staff are would not be considered wrong.
Which is correct?
The pack of wolves is running through the forest.
The pack of wolves are running through the forest.
I think “is” is the correct form.
You are correct. Since pack is being treated as a unit, use the singular verb is.
Could you please help with this sentence:
Our licensed, credentialed, and multidisciplinary
team of professionals works together…
OR
Our licensed, credentialed, and multidisciplinary
team of professionals work together…
I thought the first one is correct, but perhaps I’m wrong.
Your help is greatly appreciated!!
Since team is a singular noun, the sentence as written creates an awkward problem. This problem is perhaps best avoided by rewriting the sentence: The licensed, credentialed, and multidisciplinary professionals on our team work together…
“One in five plays wins.”
or
“One in five plays win.”
I feel like “five” is the subject in this sentence, but can’t seem to get much traction here in the office.
The subject is one.
One in five plays wins.
I am writing a poem with the line…”Your face, your smile, your laugh, your life, are yours alone.” I am pretty sure ARE is correct, but both are and is sound equally right to my ear! Can you tell me the correct one? Thanks.
Since you have multiple subjects in your sentence, use the plural verb are. Also, many editors would remove the comma after “life.”
We have faith in citizen’s participation and the strength of civil society. Is this correct?
We assume the sentence refers to more than one citizen. To form the possessive of the plural word citizens, the apostrophe is used after the s.
I was wondering if you could help:
To eat and to sleep is/are?
To run and to jump is/are?
My mother, along with her friends is/are going to the movies.
Many thanks!
Your first two examples each contain two subjects linked by and. Therefore, use the plural verb are. Regarding your sentence, sometimes the subject is separated from the verb by words such as along with, as well as, besides, or not. Ignore these expressions when determining whether to use a singular or plural verb. A comma is needed after the word friends.
To eat and to sleep are…
To run and to jump are…
My mother, along with her friends, is going to the movies.
Please help me confirm the following sentence is correct:
“It is important to attend the meeting because ‘resources’ is such an important topic.”
Because there is a topic termed “resources”, I was thinking it should be treated as a singular noun. Am I incorrect?
You are correct that the word resources is a singular noun in your sentence.
this information was very useful.
That is what we like to hear.
Which is correct when referring to couples’ names?
The Collins are very popular or The Collins is very popular?
Thank you for your answer.
If someone’s name ends in s, we must add -es for the plural. The plural of Collins is Collinses. Since the subject is plural, use the plural verb are.
The Collinses are very popular.
What is the general rule on the use of “the number of” and “A number of”? I learned that to remember the rule, use the mnemonic PAST (Plural for “A number of” and Singular for “The number of”). Is this correct?
A number of people long for love.
The number of people who long for love increases everyday.
The general rule is “The expression the number is followed by a singular verb while the expression a number is followed by a plural verb.” Your sentences are correct and your mnemonic is a good one. Please see our blog The Number vs. A Number for more detailed information.
My colleagues and I are having a disagreement about whether “students” is a collective noun; perhaps you can decide the issue! Which sentence is correct and why?
Ask students to return to their desk.
Ask students to return to their desks.
Or
Have students trace the outline with their finger.
Have students trace the outline with their fingers.
The word students is not a collective noun. It is a plural noun. Unless you are writing out a set of instructions, we prefer using the article the before the word students. Since you are writing about more than one student, there are multiple desks and fingers. Therefore, write the following:
Ask the students to return to their desks.
Have the students trace the outline with their fingers.
Would you say ‘a series of studies was undertaken’ or ‘a series of studies were undertaken’ ? I feel the former although it sounds strange.
A series is singular, while several series, multiple series, etc. would be plural. Therefore, “a series of studies was undertaken” is correct. Better yet, rewrite the sentence to something like: “We performed a series of studies.”
What about the noun “purpose”?
In the case in question, it is the purpose of a process. Now, a process comprises a multitude of steps, practices, and procedures and therefore its purpose is many-faceted. When I said
“The purpose of the process is to (a, b, c, and d.)” the copyeditor corrected it to “the purposes are”. Not sure I agree with this, as a – d are all PARTS of the purpose, not items you can pick and choose from.
Your thoughts on that?
Without knowing the specific language, we are unable to advise you on this.
I am happy to write to you again and I have 2questions, please
1- How much milk and butter (is – or – are )in the fridge?
2-I must have done my homework ,……….? ( Add tag question )
“Milk and butter” form an awkward singular, because “much” is the subject. It would be safer to rewrite the sentence: How much milk and how much butter are in the fridge?
We do not understand your second question.
please help me explain these sentences:
1. the committee debates/debate these questions carefully.
2. the committee leads/lead very different lives in private.
thank you!
The collective noun committee seems to be acting as a unit in your first sentence and as individuals in the second one.
The committee debates these questions carefully.
The committee lead very different lives in private.
Please help me write these correct in my CV.(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).:
Handful of skills in product and company management.
(what I’m actually trying to say is:
Handful of skills in product management and company management.
(is the 1st sentence loyal to the meaning in the 2nd sentence? what is the right way to keep it short but maintain the meaning?)
same goes here :
..And extensive Security skills & knowledge.
instead of:
..And extensive Security skills & extensive Security knowledge.
more..headlines/bullet points
Product definition design and development, market & technology research,
instead of:
Product definition Product design and Product development, market research and technology research,
Resource recruit & management,
vs.
Resource recruit & Resource management
(I am sorry. I know that this might not be the right place for these type of questions, but I came across your wonderful site after googling around and reading for quite a while.. b.t.w. yours is The Greatest )
Thank you!
Thank you for the compliment on our website. Grammatically speaking, your examples are not complete sentences, they are phrases. Initial capitalization is optional when using single phrases with bullet points. We recommend that capitalization of each point be consistent.
“Skills in product and company management” is the correct way to convey your message. “Handful of skills” might imply to some people that your skills are limited. The phrase “Extensive security skills and knowledge” is also correct, however the word and at the beginning is unnecessary, the word security does not to be capitalized, and the ampersand (&) should be replaced with the word and. “Product definition, design, and development and market and technology research” is correct with added commas and replacement of the ampersand. “Resource recruit and management” would be consistent with the others, but we do not know what this means.
Jane said:
November 8, 2013, at 9:10 pm
The pronoun who refers to people only, but it is a myth that that may not refer to people as well as things. It has for centuries. The King James version of the Bible, for example, refers to “He that is without sin.”
It may be an overstatement to say “…it is a myth that that may not refer to people as well as things.” Also, I am a bit surprised that you cite a 500-year old reference from the KJV of the Bible. The English of those times can cause misunderstanding and confusion when trying to communicate with modern readers, viz., when Moses asked God who He is, the reply was, according to the KJV, “I am that I am.” The Hebrew translates as, “I am who I am” (or even “I am that which I am” (if one doesn’t mind using “that” for personas). There are a number of well-educated people like myself who prefer the use of “who” for people and “that” for things. Keep up the otherwise good work.
The key word in your second to last sentence is “prefer.” You may wish to read our most recent blog on the subject: Rules and Preferences.
I read the following this morning in an online newsletter:
“Nearly one out of five Facebook users (189 million last year) are mobile-only.”
I agree with the writer in using the plural “are” rather than the singular “is” in this sentence. I know that many would disagree.
Using the term “one in ___” or “one out of ___” is analogous to saying “___%.” I don’t think you would say “20% of Facebook users is mobile only.”
“One in” or “one out of” should be plural, whereas “one of” is always singular. For example:
“One of the five apples is rotten.” The intent is a singular apple.
“One of these 10 students is sure to fail the class.” The intent is singular.
On the other hand”
“One out of five children fail be be immunized.” The intent is plural (20%).
“One in twenty students drop out of high school.” The intent is plural (5%).
At least that’s how I see it. How about you?
If the subject is one, a singular verb should be used. Example: Nearly one in five Facebook users is mobile-only.
I respectfully disagree. You appear to be clinging to a rule for the sake of the rule rather than using common sense. I believe you’ll eventually come around to my way of thinking on this one.
In our opinion, common sense tells us that if the subject is one, a singular verb should be used. As we stated in our blog Rules and Preferences, “We are all entitled to our preferences—even our prejudices—but declaring them rules everyone else must live by is crossing a line.”
I’m with Ron on this matter and it goes beyond common sense even. It’s not acceptable to extract the first word “one” in this context and call it the subject; the subject is “one in four….”. The words after “one” are not prepositional, they all go to form the subject.
As “one in four” represents a number of people greater than one, the subject is plural, hence Ron is correct.
Applying your logic, you would say “one percent (of a countable noun) is white”. Please tell me you wouldn’t…
The subject is “one.” You have an eccentric approach to grammar. Can you cite even one authority who would agree with you?
On TEAS Manual book, I have two questions.
Any of us has the opportunity to score well.
None of the students uses the break period to study English.
All, Any, Most,None and Some could use as singular or plural depends on the preposition of the noun it follows.
Any of us(isn’t us the plural?)
None of the students(isn’t students are plural?)
I am really confusing
Thank you.
We are not familiar with the rules of the TEAS Manual. You appear to be concerned with portion words which are covered in our Rule 6 of Subject-Verb Agreement, along with our NOTE about the word “none” which immediately follows Rule 6. Also see our blog None Were vs. None Was.
“One team is practicing. Two teams are practicing”. I can´t see what is complicated about that. Singular noun = singular verb; plural noun = plural verb. I read that British people FEEL collective nouns as a group of units, and that´s why they use prural verb forms with them. Therefore, we can conclude that grammar rules are not always based on logic.
I have to fill in the blank for a sentence that goes like this: Some of the (attorney-at-law)___ went to the court to observe.
To complete the sentence above, I am contemplating to use attorney-at-law instead of attorneys-at-law. I am at loss here cause I can not determine whether the subject should be singular or plural since there is no other indication as to the form of the noun in the sentence.
Thank you for your help
The phrase “some of” indicates a plural subject. Therefore, write “attorneys-at-law.”
Which is correct,
She wanted to make a cake .However, she did not have eggs. or She did not have eggs .However, she wanted to make a cake.
We recommend a semicolon before “however” when it introduces a complete sentence:
She wanted to make a cake; however, she did not have eggs.
I constantly hear from commentators, “Australia are leading/loosing”. As there is only one Australian team on the field, is this statement correct? I was taught that as Australia is a place, therefore a non participant; only “the Australian/s” is/are winning or loosing.
Which is correct?
In American English, we typically use the name of a country as a place, although we also commonly hear “America is leading the basketball game,” or “the United States is losing the hockey game,” etc, during competitions with international teams. We would consider the singular to be correct because the team as a whole wins or loses, not individual members of the team who win or lose. Also, we would consider “America is leading …” to be as acceptable as “the American team is leading …,” and “the Americans are leading the Australians” might sound a bit awkward but is also acceptable. We understand that, in British English, “the team are losing” would not be considered wrong.
Choose
He is two metres tall.He is(very- extremely)tall.
Either adverb is grammatically correct.
The band of musicians is playing their instruments in the hall right now.
The band of musicians are playing their instruments in the hall right now.
Which is ‘grammar’ correct? Why?
The second example is acceptable. The first is not, because “is” is singular and “their” is plural. But the best plan would be to drop “band of” and write “The musicians are playing their instruments in the hall right now.”
Should I use groups of four or groups of fours? Thanks..
Write “groups of four.”
I’m writing about Lesson Study, a professional development model that is practiced in Japan. Which of the two sentences below is grammatically correct?
“The target of Lesson Study are the students.”
“The target of Lesson Study is the students.”
My guess is the first sentence. But I’m not sure why.
Thank you very much in advance for your help.
The subject of your sentence is the singular noun target. Therefore, use the singular verb is.
Please help me,
with these two sentences. Which one is correct?
1. A list of drugs and their prices were submitted.
2. A list of drugs and their prices was submitted.
We do not have enough information to decide this matter. If the list consisted of the drugs’ names and their prices, then use was. But if the list only listed the drugs, and the prices were submitted separately, you are talking about two lists: “A list of drugs and [a list of] their prices,” which would require were. As it stands, the sentence is ambiguous and should be rewritten.
Haha. Thank you. That is clear.
But if the sentence is converted into a question,”Are the students the target?”, the answer seems to be, “Yes, the target are the students.” That sounds right, doesn’t it? Or am I being confused?
Yes, you are confused. The subject is students in the sentence “Are the students the target?” The answer would be “Yes, the students are the target.” In your original sentence of September 10, 2015, the subject was target. “The target is the students.”
In the case of the song GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF HOME, where the phrase: “And there to meet me IS my mama and papa” seems to treat “mama and papa” as a unit (a couple – is a unit) but individually as mama and papa should be plural, isn’t it?
You are correct.
For subject verb agreement, would the word men have a singular or plural verb?
Ex: (Does/ Do) the three men have reservations.
Use the plural auxiliary verb do with the plural noun men. Our post What Does vs. What Do has more information on these confusing verbs.
Which sentence is correct: “A flood of Tribune employees signs up for buyouts” OR “A flood of Tribune employees sign up for buyouts.”? I saw this article title online today, and it feels wrong to say “signs”. I’m thinking that, since the “flood” is referring to the plural collective of “people”, that the verb has to match people rather than flood, even though it’s the object of the preposition. I’d love to know if my hunch is correct. Thanks!
We agree with you. The sentence seems to be more about the individuals than the flood. Some writers and editors may disagree. See our post These Nouns Present Singular Problems for more information.
Thank God I found your blog! This is such a great help for everyone. 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.”
I was so confused when I read this sentence because as far as I know, it should be written as “Nearly 60 per cent of people WANTS…” considering that percentage pertains to a single group and I was enlightened by your blog! So I should say that the above statement is grammatically correct, should I not? Many thanks! I am hoping for your response!
The newspaper article is written correctly. The subject of the sentence is 60 percent. Fractions and percentages can either be singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition following. In this case people is the object of the preposition of. The verb must agree with the plural noun people. The correct plural form is want. If you are still confused, please see our post When to Add s to a Verb.
Which is correct
“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. Also, our Rule 1 of Writing Numbers says, “Spell out all numbers beginning a sentence.” To be consistent, we recommend spelling out both numbers. The phrase “one in fifteen” does not require hyphens. Therefore, write “One in fifteen people in Wisconsin doesn’t have health insurance.”
Thank you for your helpful article.
However, I am still not sure of which to use, “is” or “are”, in the sentence “30% of the workforce _____ employed in sales.”
I would be very thankful if you can help me with this. Looking forward to your reply.
Fractions and percentages can be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition following. In this particular sentence, since workforce is a singular noun with plural connotations, like jury, company, orchestra, community, etc., the writer may use either a singular or a plural verb. (Also, our Rule 1 of Writing Numbers says, “Spell out all numbers beginning a sentence.”)
when we should use the plural form of collective noun? i mean when we should say groups or classes?
If you are referring to more than one group or class, use the plural form.
I have a question. Which one of the foll. sentences is correct? ‘Sugar and milk are added’ or ‘Sugar and milk is added’ ??
Use the plural verb are since these two subjects are connected by and.
Can someone please correct this for me?
Please be informed that starting today, Jan. 19, 2016, all teachers are requested to assist during the two breaks & the dismissal time.
Thank you for your help!
If this is to be used in formal writing, we recommend: Please be informed that starting today, January 19, 2016, all teachers are requested to assist during the two breaks and the dismissal time.
Which is correct:
Dr. Jones and his team have successfully performed the surgery.
Dr. Jones and his team has successfully performed the surgery.
Thank you.
Your sentence has two subjects, Dr. Jones and team. Therefore, use the plural verb have.
I would like to know if it is correct to say :
The server team are working on resolving this and we will follow up on this notification once this issue is resolved.
The server team shouldn’t be used with IS working?
We recommend “The server team is working on resolving this, and we will follow up on this notification once this issue is resolved.”
According to Merriam-Webster, “while” can be use as a verb, but how about the following sentence? I’m really having trouble in understanding it. Please help.
“This while nuclear power plants reduce significantly consumption of fossil fuels for energy production.”
The word while is used as a conjunction in your example sentence. The word this refers to an action described in a previous sentence. Your sentence implies that this action is occurring while nuclear power plants significantly reduce consumption of fossil fuels for energy production. We cannot provide any more information without seeing the previous sentence.
Which is correct?
“The Inca is” or “the Inca are” ?
“The Amish is” or “the Amish are” ?
Nationalities, like French or British take the plural form, right? “The French are”/”The British are”
Thank you!
Generally, nationalities take the plural form. We could give you more guidance if you provide a specific example sentence.
which is correct to say;
A reading from the book of Genesis, chapter 1, verses 3-9
A reading from the book of Genesis, chapter 1, verse 3-9
Writing “3-9” indicates “three through nine.” Therefore, use the plural, “verses.”
The team is proud of their achievements .
or
The team is proud of its achievements .
Since you used the singular verb is, the team is acting as a unit. Therefore, use the singular possessive its.
The two decide to scam money from the public.
OR
The two decides to scam money from the public.
The phrase “the two” indicates a plural subject. Therefore, use the plural verb decide. Please see our post When to Add s to a Verb for more information.
what is the right subject -verb agreement for this sentence?
I will study hard until I pass the TOEFL?
I study hard until I pass the TOEFL?
i have studied hard until I pass the TOEFL?
I will study hard until I pass the TOEFL.
Could you help me with these words, please? Can the word “collection” (as a collective noun) be followed by the plural verb like “the family was / the family were”?
And what about the word “money”? Is it a collective noun?
The words collection and money are both singular nouns and are followed by singular verbs.
All people (are/is) eating. Anyone can give me the correct answer and brief explanation. Thank you in advance.
The word people is a plural noun. Therefore, the plural verb are is used.
I just want to confirm because i got confused of which is the correct between the two;
people love you or people loves you
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.
thank you so much!
The word people is a plural noun. Therefore, the plural verb love is used. Our post When to Add s to a Verb gives more information on how to choose the correct verb form.
I need help with the following:
Half of the population is/are?
One-half of the people is/are?
The word population is a collective noun that can take either a singular or plural verb, depending on the intention of the author. The noun people is plural. Therefore, are is correct in your second sentence.
Different application forms are used for Life Insurance and Health insurance. Please let me know if this statement is correct.
Attached is a life and heath insurance application for Jones.
Or should it read.
Attached is life and health insurance applications for Jones.
Since there are multiple forms, write “Attached are life and health insurance applications for Jones.”
What is the subject verb agrement for collective nouns of team names ,institutions or music bands for example do we say Metallica are launching a new album or Metallica is launching a new album, do we say Led Zeppelin are disbanding or Led Zeppelin is disbanding,Manchester United are playing today or Manchester United is playing today, or Real Madrid are selling Ronaldo or Real Madrid is selling Ronaldo help me please
If the noun is acting as a unit, use a singular verb. In each of your examples the nouns are acting as units. For example, Metallica as a unit, not just certain band members, is launching a new album. Therefore, use is in all your examples.
As a speech-language pathologist, I often address the area of pragmatics, or how the individual uses language (or not) for communication. I believe that although the term appears to be a plural, like politics, it is actually used as a singular in a sentence, but I am trying to verify this. I believe I can write something like, “pragmatics is an area of weakness.” Your thoughts?
Thanks!
We agree. Pragmatics is a branch of linguistics and therefore a singular noun.
Which is correct?
1) The class was disagreeing with one another about the answers.
2) The class were disagreeing with one another about the answers.
Thank you
The class members are acting with individuality within the unit in your example. Therefore, use the plural verb were. For clarity, we recommend rewriting the sentence as The class members were disagreeing with one another about the answers.
I have a grammar question for you. I have been unable to find the answer to this question.
Which is correct?
The 80s is returning OR The 80s are returning ?
If the answer is “are”, then why when referred to in the past tense, do we say, “The 80’s was a time when…..”?
Thank you for any help or input you could give me.
This has to do with a marquis for my son’s place of work.
He changes it and is disagreeing with what he is being told to post on it.
Again, thank you in advance, for any insights you can give me.
This is a matter of judgment. Our Rule 7 of Subject-Verb Agreement says, “Use a singular verb with distances, periods of time, sums of money, etc., when considered as a unit.” This rule corresponds with the discussion in the first sentence of this article regarding “nouns … acting as a unit.”
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. If being considered as a single unit of time, you could write “The decade of the ’80s is returning” or “The ’80s decade is returning” in order to remove any doubt. For us, grammatically it’s hard to think of the plural expression ’80s as a singular collective noun.
Note that we recommend writing ’80s over either 80s or 80’s.
Which is correct?
Neither the teacher nor the student IS present in the affairs.
Neither the teacher nor the student WAS present in the affairs.
Thank you so much!
The verb in either sentence is correct depending on whether you are writing about an event in the present tense or in the past. (The meaning of “in the affairs” is awkward and unclear.)
Teachers writes well. Is this right? Since it is a collective noun
The word teachers is a plural noun, not a collective noun: Teachers write well.
All passangers should take their seats.
All passengers should take his seat.
Either you or she is mistaken.
Either you or she are mistaken. Or something else??
Between you and I, he is a bad man.
Between you and me, he is a bad man.
Thank you.
Your sentences do not pertain to our topic of collective nouns. Please see our rules for Pronouns, Subject-Verb Agreement, and Prepositions to help you with these sentences.
I just want to know which one is correct . The team of treating doctors are responsible or is responsible ?
If the team of doctors are responsible as a group, not as individuals, then they are acting as a unit, and team is singular.
Which is correct: Our family sold their house. Or: Our family sold our house.
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.
Which is correct?
1. The Grade 12 (is, are) having a NAT Exam now.
2. The class (has, have) different opinions about the issue.
Using Subject-verb agreement – collective nouns
Technically, since Grade 12 is acting as a unit in your first sentence, use the singular verb is. In your second sentence, the class members are acting with individuality within the unit. Therefore, use the plural verb have.
However, these sentences might be better expressed as:
1. Grade 12 is …
2. The class expressed different opinions about the issue.
It’s great to see this post.
I had a question about population.
Why is this sentence correct?
Nearly 70 percent of the population still live in the countryside.
While in this case we say that “population” must be considered as a unit not individuals, though it used a plural form.
This example was on Longman Dictionary Online.
The word population is a collective noun that can take either a singular or plural verb, depending on the intention of the author. In our Pop Quiz question 3, our intention was to indicate that the percentage represents a single group. In your example, the author intends population to represent the plural form as the percentage is not intended to indicate any single group.
Do we say, “Many a citizen of a country is willing to put up with the world” or “Many a citizen of a country are willing to put up with the world”?
The phrase many a is followed by a singular countable noun and takes a singular verb. 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. But, of what I have read, I tend to agree with the author’s take on things. (Though, strictly speaking, “people” is a singular collective noun (as in, the American people) and it can be pluralized as in, “The peoples of the earth share a common humanity.” But, maybe that has become the archaic form, for virtually everyone uses people as the plural of person)
But, I am presently editing a friend’s book (a commentary on the book of Galatians) and came upon a grammatical structure that is common, but I simply do not know what is considered proper. My friend wrote, “The company these men chose to keep were those who discounted the work of Christ and opted instead for justification by the deeds of the law.” Strictly speaking, “company” is the subject and, being singular, should take a singular verb. So it sounds a little “wrong” as he has written. But changing the verb to the singular “was” sounds even worse. I am going to leave it as “were,” because “was those” sounds awful.
Anyone know the rule?
As we mention in Rule 9 of Subject-Verb Agreement, a collective noun such as company may take a singular or plural verb depending on the writer’s intent. Since the author chose to clarify company as “those who,” it appears your friend favored a plural interpretation. The sentence could be recast in order to avoid the collective noun-verb agreement question:
These men chose the company of those who discounted …
The company these men chose discounted …
The verb of the following sentence, is it singular or plural?
“The first five questions was/were related to….”
I think singular verb is correct because the subject is a unit but I want to be sure. If it’s not true I would like to know the reason.
The subject of the sentence is the plural noun questions, which is not a collective noun. Therefore, use the plural verb were.
Thanks for the great blog.
By the way, I have some queries:
The jury leads very different lives in private.
Nobody knows the trouble I had to face.
Are these sentences correct?
Thank you
Because you have used the word lives in your sentence, it is apparent that you are emphasizing the jury as being composed of individuals. In this context, we recommend that you recast the sentence as
The jurors lead very different lives in private. OR Members of the jury lead very different lives in private.
Your second sentence is correct.
I know I shouldn’t let it bother me, but it drives me crazy to hear collective nouns paired with plural verbs. Reading Wikipedia I see where “Led Zeppelin were an English rock band…” This simply sounds incorrect. The fact that the band was British shouldn’t dictate that British English rules should apply. I would never say, “Coca-Cola ARE working on a new formula.” The Coca-Cola company is a collective noun and therefore a singular verb should be used as in, “Coca-Cola IS working on a new formula.”
We understand from some of our Commonwealth readers that in their countries plural verbs are favored with collective nouns. In American English we adapt the verb according to whether the collective noun is acting as a unit or as separate individuals. We consider “the Coca-Cola company” to be a singular, not a collective, noun.
Which is correct?
Any of my students performs well on assignments.
Any of my students perform well on assignments.
We are guessing that you mean All of my students perform well on assignments. (See Rule 8 of Subject-Verb Agreement regarding portion words.)
I also find the use of the plural form with collective nouns problematic. One of the examples given (The team were happy with their presentations) begs the question by the use of “their” as the prepositional pronoun. If “team” is taken as singular then the correct pronoun would be “it” giving “The team was happy with its presentations.” This seems perfectly acceptable to me even though the prepositional noun “presentations” is plural. This would seem to contradict the claimed principle that the case rests on the plurality or not of the prepositional noun phrase.
The use of singular vs. plural verbs with collective nouns is a matter of writer’s intent (see Rule 9 of Subject-Verb Agreement). With portion words we are guided by the noun after of (see Rule 8 of Subject-Verb Agreement). The use of the plural pronoun their in Pop Quiz question No. 2 does force the collective noun team to be considered as plural. However, we feel that this question can be more instructive revised to allow our readers to interpret its meaning, which we have done. Thank you for your comment.
I have the sentence (or part thereof): “You can now manually switch between Home and Away Modes.” A colleague asked why it is not, “You can now manually switch between Home and Away Mode.”? I want to say home mode and away modes are two examples of a mode. so plural form, But on consideration I feel I could also justify you can switch between home mode and away mode, so mode is correct in an uncountable form. Is this a BrE vs AmE use? Why have both begun to sound right?
You could write either You can now manually switch between Home Mode and Away Mode or You can now manually switch between Home and Away Modes. We slightly prefer the former for clarity.
Please I need clarification as to the (in)correctness of this statement: “How many population are in America?”
The statement sounds incorrect to me as I feel there are better ways to structure the same statement, but I would appreciate clarification.
Thank you.
We recommend:
“What is the population of America?”
OR
“How many people are in America?”
Please help me with this: Do I say, “Does the form four class has books,” or “Does the form four class have books?”
Our post When to Add s to a Verb says, “Sometimes a helping (also called an auxiliary) verb is used in conjunction with the main verb. When a helping verb is used, the spelling of the main verb does not change.” Therefore, use the verb have with the auxiliary does.
Which is correct and why?
25 years of teaching has taught me … or 25 years of teaching have taught me …
Our Rule 7 of Subject-Verb Agreement says, “Use a singular verb with distances, periods of time, sums of money, etc., when considered as a unit.” In addition, our Rule 1 of Writing Numbers says, “Spell out all numbers beginning a sentence.” Therefore, write Twenty-five years of teaching has taught me …
Please help me identify the subject and verb in “Mr. John loves to play basketball.”
The subject is Mr. John, the main verb is loves, and to play is called an infinitive. See Rule 3 of Finding Nouns, Verbs, and Subjects on our GrammarBook.com website.
Would you say “A brood of chickens was tussling for a worm” or “A brood of chickens were tussling for a worm”? Doesn’t “tussling” imply individuality, which makes the second example more acceptable?
With a collective noun, the author will usually determine whether it is acting as a single unit or a group of many. A plural noun following the preposition of leaves open the possibility of a plural verb. Your interpretation makes your second example acceptable.
Wikipedia states that the Los Angeles Lakers are a basketball team. But the Lakers are a single team. Shouldn’t it (not they) be considered singular and not plural therefore: the Los Angeles Lakers is a basketball team? They give this plural (instead of singular) consideration is given to all sports teams. Are they correct and I am wrong?
The Los Angeles Lakers is considered a collective noun. As this post indicates, with collective nouns the verb might be singular or plural, depending on the writer’s intent.
I have a related question about singular or plural nouns in a clause referring to a plural subject. Consider these two examples:
1. When the teacher dismissed the class, all 20 students in class promptly closed their notebook.
2. When the teacher dismissed the class, all 20 students in class promptly closed their notebooks.
Is one of these examples necessarily correct? Does the answer depend on how many notebook each student has? 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 second example suggests that more than one notebook is in the room, but maybe each student also has more than one notebook.
This is an example of a statement that would benefit from a more widely understood context. Many grammatical purists would lean toward the treatment in example 2, as few would interpret 20 students having only one collective notebook (unless the context established that fact). At the same time, the casual reader or listener would probably accept and not question either statement as meaning 20 students all closed their individual notebooks (20 of them in all). If the context indicated each student had more than one notebook, example 2 would support that meaning as well.
I want to know about the use of verb after percentage of collective nouns, e.g.
25% of the jury was/were in fovor of the indictment.
50% percent of the crowd was /were supporting our team.
34 % of the parliament was /were in favor of the bill.
Close adherence to formal guidelines would favor the singular verb for your collective noun examples, but usage can also be influenced by a writer’s intent. If you wish to emphasize the individuals, use the plural verb. If you prefer to treat the collective noun as one unit, use the singular verb. In addition, our Rule 1 of Writing Numbers says, “Spell out all numbers beginning a sentence.” Therefore, begin the sentences as follows:
“Twenty-five percent…”
“Fifty percent…”
“Thirty-four percent…”
We are debating this sentence… “The Senga community HAVE lived without the Word of God in their language….” (referring to the Senga people group/tribe in Zambia.)
Should it be “The Senga community HAS lived ..” OR you could write the Senga PEOPLE “have” lived….
(the first sentence seems incorrect to me, unless you used “communities have” instead of “community have.”
The word community is a singular noun; therefore, the singular verb has is correct. Writing “The Senga people have lived without the Word of God in their language…” is grammatically correct.
….are those people who know/s a little of everything…
Which is right?
The word people is a plural noun; therefore, the plural verb know is correct.
Thank you!
Even though I was wrong, thank you.
I just encountered the exact issue as the CNN headline and why I came to GrammarBook.com. It sounds rather awkward to say “1 in 7 people struggles,” which was case I encountered. I think it’s clearer, less awkward all around to express the otherwise implied person/subject and word it, “one person in [x] ‘verbs’…”
Thanks again.
I noticed my television announcing upcoming shows. The Simpsons is coming up next. Mike and Molly is coming up next. I would like to know if this is correct or if “are” is ever appropriate. The Simpsons are coming up next. Mike and Molly are coming up next.
The title of a television show represents a singular noun. Therefore, the announcer used “is” correctly.
When sending an email with attached files to colleagues, which sentence is correct? Is there a better way to state this?
“Here are the manuscript and the article.”
“Here is the manuscript and the article.”
The sentence contains two subjects, “manuscript” and “article.” Therefore, the plural verb “are” is correct. You will find more information in our post Drawing the Subject Out of Hiding.
The sentence might be better rewritten as follows:
The manuscript and article are attached to this email.
In the sentence “Every publication, presentation, and discussion on IM includes…,” is the usage of singular verb “includes” correct? My take is that since there are multiple subjects, it should be “include.” Please clear my doubt on this. Thanks in advance!
The subjects are modified by “every,” which implies “every one.” Therefore, they are singular and take the verb form ending in s.
What verb would “a set of” take? For example,
A set of criteria/prerequisites was/were applied…?
Use a singular verb with the subject “set.” See our Subject-Verb Agreement rules.
A set of criteria/prerequisites was applied…