Animal Collecetive noun...singular or plural verb ?

[vader_jr]

I'm confused

A flock of goats is eating grass near the mountain.

or

A flock of goats are eating grass near the mountain.

it begins with 'a'
use singular or plural verb ?

Clarify please..

[bhaisahab]

I'm confused

A flock of goats is eating grass near the mountain.

or

A flock of goats are eating grass near the mountain.

it begins with 'a'
use singular or plural verb ?

Clarify please..

Welcome to Using English. In BrE you could use either.

[emsr2d2]

By the way, it's "a herd of goats", not a "flock". It's "a flock of sheep".

[Barb_D]

I need more sleep. I looked at that sentence over and over and couldn't think why it sounded wrong! Duh!

[vader_jr]

i thought it was "flock"..
thanks for the reminder..
goat and sheep are in the same family..:P

[moonlike]

I respect all the above mentioned posts. In my Longman Advanced American Dictionary, it's written "flock: a group of sheep, goats or birds"/ "herd: a group of animals of one kind that lives and feeds together, like a herd of elephants"
Also, in oxford collocation flock and herd are both mentioned for goat.
Regards,