[Grammar] Collective Nouns Plural/Singular?

[Darte]

Hi, would need some clarification regarding this.

A pride of peacocks is showing off their lovely feathers now.

A pride of peacocks are showing off their lovely feathers now.

Inclined to believe that the second option is the right answer, but the case is that the first answer is correct due to A as a determiner.

Help please? to justify the first sentence

 

[bhaisahab]

Hi, would need some clarification regarding this.

A pride of peacocks is showing off their lovely feathers now.

A pride of peacocks are showing off their lovely feathers now.

Inclined to believe that the second option is the right answer, but the case is that the first answer is correct due to A as a determiner.

Help please? to justify the first sentence

Welcome to the forums.
The first one is not correct because of "their". "A pride of peacocks is showing off its..." and "A pride of peacocks are showing off their..." would both be correct, depending on whether you see the peacocks as a unit or as a collection of individual birds.

 

[RonBee]

A collective noun is usually construed (in AmE) as singular. So, no, it's not the determiner. It's that a pride of peacocks is viewed as a unit. "The pride of peacocks" would be the same in that respect.

 

[bhaisahab]

I should have specified that I was referring to BrE. It would seem to be necessary to do that more and more, there being so many differences between AmE and BrE as to almost constitute two languages.

 

[IHIVG]

I should have specified that I was referring to BrE. It would seem to be necessary to do that more and more, there being so many differences between AmE and BrE as to almost constitute two languages.

I always thought that apart from the idioms, slang and the accent, the difference is so negligible that one would hardly even notice it.
Is there any chance of the Brittish not being able to understand Americans? Or Aussies or New Zealanders? I guess not...

 

[bhaisahab]

I always thought that apart from the idioms, slang and the accent, the difference is so negligible that one would hardly even notice it.
Is there any chance of the Brittish not being able to understand Americans? Or Aussies or New Zealanders? I guess not...

Yes, there are many BrE speakers who find it difficult to understand Americans and also, I believe, AmE speakers who find British people difficult to understand. I think there is less of a problem understanding Australians and New Zealanders.

 

[Tdol]

I always thought that apart from the idioms, slang and the accent, the difference is so negligible that one would hardly even notice it.

Some dialects can cause problems- British and American soldiers have had real difficulties understanding each other. British regional dialects and varieties in particular can be quite strong.

With standard American and British English, there are a lot of little differences; in the areas you mention and also some grammatical ones, singular and plural noun/verb concord being one of those.

 

[IHIVG]

With standard American and British English, there are a lot of little differences; in the areas you mention and also some grammatical ones, singular and plural noun/verb concord being one of those.

Yes, I know there are some differences, but they don't seem to be much of a hindrance to communication, do they?

I mean, putting the local dialects aside, my question is whether those little differences in both standard American and standard British English can cause problems and affect the understanding. From what I've seen people do understand each other well and can communicate as freely as they would do with their fellow countrymen.

How often do you find it hard to understand someone from other part of the world?

I find this whole English diversity subject really interesting; probably because I can't relate that to my language at all since it's pretty homogeneous no matter where you live (there's no such thing as 'different accents', let alone grammatical differences).

 

[IHIVG]

Yes, there are many BrE speakers who find it difficult to understand Americans and also, I believe, AmE speakers who find British people difficult to understand.

Interesting! I think I understand both AmE and BrE pretty equally.
For me it's mostly a matter of an accent, which, if you're not familiar with, could take some time to get used to.