Maria_maria
05/25/08, 12:15 AM
There seems to be some confusion on this one in my class. Is the word, "group", singular or plural?
The word, "Group" (and other similar collective nouns) may be composed of many different members but the word is generally taken as a single entity. Therefore, collective nouns are generally treated as singular nouns.
The group has come to a decision.
But (and this is a big BUT) what's up with those people (including some native speakers) who treat collective nouns as plurals?
The class are doing their individual assignments.
The group are still in a meeting.
Are they wrong? Well, not really. Treating collective nouns as plurals indicate disunity within the group -- therefore, the collective may also be used to refer to individual members of the group.
In summary:
Treat collective nouns as singular nouns if you are emphasizing unity.
Treat them as plural nouns if your emphasizing individual members or disunity.
The word, "Group" (and other similar collective nouns) may be composed of many different members but the word is generally taken as a single entity. Therefore, collective nouns are generally treated as singular nouns.
The group has come to a decision.
But (and this is a big BUT) what's up with those people (including some native speakers) who treat collective nouns as plurals?
The class are doing their individual assignments.
The group are still in a meeting.
Are they wrong? Well, not really. Treating collective nouns as plurals indicate disunity within the group -- therefore, the collective may also be used to refer to individual members of the group.
In summary:
Treat collective nouns as singular nouns if you are emphasizing unity.
Treat them as plural nouns if your emphasizing individual members or disunity.