• Exciting news! With our new Ad-Free Premium Subscription you can enjoy a distraction-free browsing experience while supporting our site's growth. Without ads, you have less distractions and enjoy faster page load times. Upgrade is optional. Find out more here, and enjoy ad-free learning with us!

audience ?

Status
Not open for further replies.

whl626

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2003
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
English
Home Country
Malaysia
Current Location
Malaysia
The audience give/gives ??? their standing ovation everytime when an onstage
performance is finished.

According to what i know ' audience ' can serve as a singular noun as well as plural when we refer to the people, right ? But in the above case, which ' give/ gives ' is correct ?
 

Tdol

Editor, UsingEnglish.com
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
In British English, they are both fine. Americans tend to use the singular more for collective nouns. ;-)
 
C

CitySpeak

Guest
tdol said:
In British English, they are both fine. Americans tend to use the singular more for collective nouns. ;-)

I would say it's a strong tendency.
 

whl626

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2003
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
English
Home Country
Malaysia
Current Location
Malaysia
I see, thanks :) That clears up the mess :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top