SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT: COLLECTIVE NOUNS 1. Collective nouns name groups composed of members (usually people).
Check out the chart below for examples: army
council
minority
audience
department
navy
board
faculty
public
cabinet
family
school
class
firm
senate
committee
group
society
company
jury
team
corporation
majority
troupe
2. Collective nouns may be either singular or plural depending on whether the
group is thought of as a whole (one unit - singular) or as individual members (plural). For example: SINGULAR PLURAL My family have never been able to agree. a. The family has a long history. The class do not agree on the report. b. The class has prepared a report. 3. COLLECTIVE NOUNS AS SINGULAR SUBJECTS: As you read the examples below, notice that all members of the collective noun are doing the same thing at the same time. These collective nouns function function as singular singular subjects and require singular verbs and pronouns: a. Every afternoon the baseball team follows its coach out to the hot field
for practice. • • •
team = singular follows = a singular verb its = a singular pronoun. All members of the team arrive at the same place at the same time.
b. Today, Mr Lim's class takes its first exam.
• • •
class = singular takes = a singular verb its = a singular pronoun All members of the class are tested at the same time.
c. Th e jury agrees that the state prosecutors did not provide enough
evidence, so it s verdict is not guilty. • • •
jury = singular jury = agrees = a singular verb its = a singular pronoun. All members of the jury are thinking the same way.
4. COLLECTIVE NOUNS AS PLURAL SUBJECTS
When the members of a collective are acting as individuals, individuals, it functions as a plural subject and requires plural verbs and pronouns. As you read the e xamples below, notice that the members of the collective noun are not acting not acting in unison: a. After the three-hour practice under the brutal sun, the team shower ,
change into their their street street clothes, and head head to to their their air-conditioned air-conditioned homes. • • •
team = plural shower , change change,, head head = = plural verbs their = their = a plural pronoun The teammates are dressing into their individual outfits and leaving in different directions for their individual homes.
b. After the long exam, the class start their research papers on famous
mathematicians. • • •
class = plural start = start = a plural verb their = their = a plural pronoun. The students are beginning their own research papersin different places, at different times, on different mathematicians.
c. Th e jury disagree about the guilt of the accused and have told the told the judge
that they they are are hopelessly deadlocked. • • •
jury = plural jury = disagree,, have told = disagree told = plural verbs they = they = a plural pronoun Not everyone on the jury is thinking the same way.
5. When you write your compositions and you cannot decide if a collective noun is singular
or plural, exercise your options as a writer. You have two ways that you you can compose the sentence without causing an agreement error: [jury members, members , committee a. Insert the word members after the collective noun [jury members,, board members]; members members ]; or b. Use an entirely different word [players [ players instead of team of team,, students instead of class,, soldiers instead of army class of army ]. ]. Then you can use plural verbs and pronouns without worrying about making mistakes or sounding unnatural.
EXERCISE 1: SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT AGREEMENT – COLLECTIVE COLLECTIVE NOUNS Circle the correct verb in each of the sentences below.
The class (describes, describe) their vacations.
The whole class (meet, meets) at 3 pm.
The family (takes, take) a trip to Jakarta, Indonesia.
The chess club (compare, compares) their strategies so as to win the tournament.
The swarm of reporters (engulfs, engulf) the famous actor all at once.
The audience (cheer, cheers) the winner of the million dollars.
The orchestra (performs, perform) my favourite music.
The baseball team (practise, practises) together every evening.
The public (support, supports) the travel baseball league.
The troop (disappears, disappear) in different directions.
The crowd (moves, move) to their favourite places along the parade route.
The team (is, are) putting on their helmets.
The stage crew (has, have) completed the scenery.
The orchestra (was, were) tuning up one by one.
For weeks, the cast (was, were) rehearsing their lines with one another.
ANSWERS EXERCISE 1: SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT AGREEMENT – COLLECTIVE COLLECTIVE NOUNS
1. class - individuals - (see the word, wor d, their...hint to plural) describe 2. class - one group - singular - meets 3. family - one group - singular - takes 4. club - individuals - (their) - plural - compare 5. swarm - individuals - plural - engulf 6. audience - group - singular - cheers 7. orchestra - group - singular - performs 8. team - group - singular - practises 9. public - group - singular - supports 10. troop - individuals - plural - disappear 11. crowd - individuals - plural - move 12. team - individuals - plural - are 13. crew - group - singular - has 14. orchestra - individual - (one by one) - plural - were 15. cast - individual - (one another) - plural - were
