the minutes were/was

[pinkie9]

Thank you for the minutes of the meeting. They were very informative.

I wonder if I can use "It was" instead of "They were" here.
I know "minutes" is the plural form of "minute" and I should use "they were", but I just thought if it can be considered collectively.

Thank you.

 

[Nehushtan]

I’d be grammatically consistent and use “they were”.

 

[pinkie9]

So, is it absolutely wrong to use "It was"?
If I used "It was", would the readers think I'm a non-native speaker of English?

 

[5jj]

Yes and yes.