[Grammar] Grammatical phenomenon

[Unregistered]

Dear teacher,

I am not a native English speaker but I love English language. I have a great interest especially in English grammar. I read and write a lot. Recently I have come across certain grammatical phenomenon. To illustrate my question I use an example:

All of the group WAS sittting....
All of the group WERE sitting....

Personally I would be inclined to use the first one. Could I use the second one as well? If yes, when it would be acceptable?

What is the grammatical phenomenon? I would call it plural grammatical allusion.

Ahead many thanks.

Elle

 

[2006]

Dear teacher,

I am not a native English speaker but I love English language. I have a great interest especially in English grammar. I read and write a lot. Recently I have come across certain grammatical phenomenon. To illustrate my question I use an example:

All of the group WAS sittting.... :cross:
All of the (people in the) group WERE sitting.... :tick:

The subject is "all", which here is both countable and plural.

All of the work was done in less than an hour. :tick:
Here "(all of the) work" is not countable, so you cannot use a plural verb.

Elle

2006