A football team ________(play/plays) very well ...

Hi everyone.Here is a question I met on(I'm not sure whether I should use "on") our textbook.

A football team ________(play/plays) very well if they understand each other.

Which one is correct?

* Not a teacher

Use the singular.

A football team plays very well if they understand each other.

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SHerman7 said:

Hi everyone.Here is a question I met on(I'm not sure whether I should use "on") our textbook.

A football team ________(play/plays) very well if they understand each other.

Which one is correct?

Click to expand...

It would be better as "A football team plays very well if the players understand each other".

SirGod said:

* Not a teacher

Use the singular.

A football team plays very well if they understand each other.

​

Also, I'd say "this is a question I came across in my textbook" or something similar.​

Click to expand...

In some variants like BrE, you can also use a plural verb with a collective noun- I would use play here, especially as it's followed by they. Bhaisahab's rewrite removes this problem.

SHerman7 said:

Hi everyone.Here is a question I met on(I'm not sure whether I should use "on") our textbook.

Click to expand...

[AmE - not a teacher]

It would be "in", and "met" is slightly awkward, since we typically "meet" people, not things. I also would not say "our", because you and the people in this forum are not using the same book as you. I would say:

Here is a question I found in my textbook.

First I'm so ashamed that I made these mistakes.I'm a Chinese ten-grader and I usually use Chinese thoughts when I'm using English.Like "our textbook" is very generally used in Chinese.After the National College Entrance Examination in 2014 I will learn more about English thoughts.
Thanks all for answering my question.Since "play" and "plays" have been adviced together,whether I should think that all are right?

SHerman7 said:

First I'm so ashamed that I made these mistakes.

Click to expand...

Don't be- making mistakes is a natural part of the learning process.

SHerman7 said:

Thanks all for answering my question.Since "play" and "plays" have been adviced together,whether I should think that all are right?

Click to expand...

I would say so, but a person not familiar with the different forms of English might prefer only one.

Thanks again!One more question:I don't really understandthe meaning of "Bhaisahab's rewrite removes this problem. "

SHerman7 said:

Thanks again!One more question:I don't really understand the meaning of "Bhaisahab's rewrite removes this problem. "

Click to expand...

bhaisahab's re-written version results in there being no problem.