[Grammar] SUBJECT VERB CONCORD

[newteacher12]

Hey everyone!
Could anyone please help me with this sentence?

A group of children plays in the park.
A group of children play in the park.

The committee was divided on this issue.
The committee were divided on this issue

which one is correct?
I am totally confused.
Thank you all

 

[TheParser]

The committee was divided on this issue.
The committee were divided on this issue

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, New Teacher:


1. As you know, you are dealing with collective nouns here. I am sure that you have already checked the "millions" of results on Google for this subject.

2. This is a very difficult matter.

a. Here in the United States of America, we say, "The government is ...." I believe that our British friends usually prefer "The government are...."

3. Regarding your question, I shall not give an answer. (We non-teachers are required to be very careful.)

4. So I shall share something that I have found. Then you can make the decision.

a. The jury has been out for nine hours. (A singular verb is used because the jury is considered as acting as a whole.)

b. The jury are arguing vehemently. (To argue, more than one person is needed. The plural verb are is correct because

jury members are acting separately.)

[I have copied the book's words -- including the words in the parentheses -- word for word. The only change that I made was to put some words in boldface type.]

James


Source: Business English and Communication by Stewart, Lanham, and Zimmer (1967), page 130.

 

[Tdol]

I believe that our British friends usually prefer "The government are...."

We use both, though the plural does seem to be winning with collective nouns.

 

[nelson13]

Put simply, for the two questions, both forms are correct.

Some grammarians will say a singular verb should be used for A GROUP, but you can ignore them.

 

[Tdol]

Some grammarians will say a singular verb should be used for A GROUP, but you can ignore them.

That's a bit of an oversimplification IMO- in some variants the singular is used, others tend to use the plural, and in some both are fine. I think that both forms can be used, but that doesn't mean that everyone will agree everywhere. I have had complaints from AmE speakers about my using the plural, so if you're going to be in an AmE environment, it might make sense to follow their pattern.

 

[newteacher12]

Thanks everyone for the reply