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

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SHerman7

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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?
 

SirGod

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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.
 

bhaisahab

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

Tdol

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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.

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.
 

BobSmith

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

[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.
 

SHerman7

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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?
 

Tdol

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First I'm so ashamed that I made these mistakes.
Don't be- making mistakes is a natural part of the learning process.

Thanks all for answering my question.Since "play" and "plays" have been adviced together,whether I should think that all are right?
I would say so, but a person not familiar with the different forms of English might prefer only one.
 

SHerman7

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

5jj

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Thanks again!One more question:I don't really understand the meaning of "Bhaisahab's rewrite removes this problem. "
bhaisahab's re-written version results in there being no problem.
 
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