Collective Nouns
Collective nouns are singular in form but plural in sense. Here are some
examples of collective nouns:
assembly
committee
faculty
herd
audience
crew
family
jury
class
crowd
flock
team
Army
etc.................
For purposes of agreement, collective nouns can be singular or plural,
depending on how they are used in a sentence. Collective nouns used as one
unit take a singular verb; collective nouns that indicate many units take a
plural verb.
Singular collective nouns
Singular collective nouns include molasses (one kind of syrup) and chicken
pox (one kind of disease). Other examples include measles, civics, social
studies, mumps, news, cast, social studies, economics, and mathematics.
"The play's cast is rehearsing for today's show".
The singular subject cast takes the singular verb is. The members of the cast
are functioning as a single unit.
"The jury returns a unanimous verdict".
The singular subject jury requires the singular verb returns; the members of
the jury are working together as one unit.
Plural collective nouns
A collective noun is treated as plural when the group it names is considered
to be made up of individuals. Because members of the group can act on their
own, the word is considered plural.
"The play's cast are rehearsing their lines".
The plural subject cast requires the plural verb are because the members of
the cast are functioning as individual people doing separate things.
"The jury often have different reactions to the evidence they
hear".
The plural subject jury requires the plural verb have because the members of
the jury are being considered as individuals.
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