Subject and Verb Agreement with Collective Nouns

Do you use a singular or plural verb to match a collective noun such as team or staff? The answer is, It depends. If these nouns are acting as a unit, use a singular verb.

Example: The team is heading for practice this afternoon.

If the sentence indicates more individuality, use a plural verb.

Example: The team are eating with their families tonight.

Would you choose is or are in the example below?

Example (an actual headline from CNN.com): Nearly one in four people worldwide is/are Muslim.

People is NOT a collective noun like team or staff. It is a plural noun. However, the subject is one, which is singular and takes a singular verb. So the answer is is. In the above sentence, the prepositional phrase is in four people. This means that people is the object of the preposition.

Let’s get real here, however: The intention in this headline is to let us know that nearly 25% of the world’s population is Muslim. That intention gets lost by focusing on one is. It might be better to reword the sentence: Nearly 25% of people in the world are Muslim.

Why is 25% of people are correct? The subject of this sentence is 25%. Fractions and percentages, like team and staff, can be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition following. In this case people is the object of the preposition of. We have already said that people is plural. Therefore, 25% becomes plural in meaning.

Example: Twelve percent of the building has/have been renovated.

The subject is twelve percent, which will be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition that follows. In this sentence, the object of the preposition is building, which is always singular. So the correct answer is has.

To learn more about subject and verb agreement, click here.

Ready to challenge yourself?

Pop Quiz

1. The team is/are headed to the nationals since winning the state finals.

2. The mock trial team was/were happy with /its/their presentations to the judge.

3. Nearly 25% of the population is/are Muslim.

4. Our staff meets/meet on Tuesday mornings to discuss customer complaints.

5. Our staff works/work hard to meet their goals and deadlines.

Pop Quiz Answers

1. The team is headed to the nationals since winning the state finals.
Team is being used as a cohesive unit so a singular verb is required.

2. The mock trial team was happy with its presentations to the judge.
The singular verb was and pronoun its are used if the writer intends to convey that team members were generally all happy with the presentations. OR
The mock trial team were happy with their presentations to the judge.
The plural verb were and pronoun their are used if the writer intends to convey that there were some differences of opinion among the team, but overall they were happy with the presentations.

3. Nearly 25% of the population is Muslim.
The word population is a collective noun that can take either a singular or plural verb, depending on the intention of the author. The intention here is to indicate that this percentage represents a single group.

4. Our staff meets on Tuesday mornings to discuss customer complaints.
Staff, a collective noun, is acting as a single unit in this sentence.

5. Our staff work hard to meet their goals and deadlines.
Their is a clue that staff is not acting as a unit. Therefore, the plural work is needed.

How do you know that work, not works, is plural? Think about which word you would use with he and which word you would use with they.

Examples:
She works too hard for her age.
They work harder when the foreman is around.

If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.

267 responses to “Subject and Verb Agreement with Collective Nouns”

I respectufully disagree with your use of the plural verb form when referring to “team or staff”. I recently heard a national TV reporter use a plural verb when refering to a married COUPLE–she used it twice. That prompted me to look into it as it is contrary to what I learned in public school (1937 to 1950.) I realize language evolves but I will continue to use the singular verb with all collective nouns and when I hear otherwise it will continue to grate on my nerves.

We understand why some words can grate on our nerves or ears when they differ from what we have learned and used over the years. The Chicago Manual of Style advises, “A mass noun (sometimes called a noncount noun) is one that denotes something uncountable, either because it is abstract or because it refers to an indeterminate aggregation of people or things ; the latter type is also called a collective noun. As the subject of a sentence, a mass noun usually takes a singular verb . But in a collective sense, it may take either a singular or a plural verb form . A singular verb emphasizes the group; a plural verb emphasizes the individual members.” As we mentioned in our blog on “Subject and Verb Agreement with Collective Nouns,” if the nouns are acting as a unit, use a singular verb, but if the sentence indicates more individuality, use a plural verb.

Just because you heard a news reporter say it that way does NOT mean it was correct. The number of “journalists” who cannot spell or write properly is appalling. Apparently they’re no longer required to be able to use proper grammar or spelling in order to get their degrees.

Agreement or disagreement with a rule of grammar does not change anything. The sub-verb agreement rule regarding collective nouns is what it is———whether or not one “respectfully disagrees” with it.

Collective nouns refer to single entities comprised of multiple individuals. Good writers will make a distinction between the group, which is singular, and its components: The team is going to the playoffs. Team members are going home for the holidays.

John Language is more than a bag of rules. You can think of collectives in two ways – as a collective of parts or as parts of a collective. Both are utterly identical in ‘total’ meaning, and so the need for the other can seem quite superfulous at first. A bit like trying to decide which is best, driving on the left or on the right side of the road. It happens that in the UK, we tend to prefer plural nouns, while in the US I notice they prefer the singular more often than not.

John,
I have just read the sentence ” The couple is to honeymoon in Barbados” in one of our broadsheet newspapers and unlike you this sounded discordant to my ears. Having finished my Secondary education in 1966 I can only presume that there may have been different emphasis during the education process in America and Ireland. Incidentally when I queried a number of friends -mostly under 30 – I got an initial 60/40% tending towards using “are” in the above sentence.
I wonder if there is a definitive Legal interpretation of the verb to be used in this case ?

The language scholar Theodore M. Bernstein wrote: “Whether to regard couple as singular or plural is a question that returns again and again. Most writers prefer to treat the word as a plural most of the time … The advice here is to favor the plural in nine cases out of ten.”

In a tango dance contest there can be only one winner- the couple that dances best. It there are two dancers on the floor, there is one couple, if there are four dancers on the floor, there are two couples. Ergo, the winning couple is one; maybe two dancers, but only one couple. Same with team and band- at least in America. Only one team wins the Super Bowl and the World Series. It is the team with the most points at the end of the game. The winning team is on the field, talking to the press. If you want to have plural predicate, write or say a plural subject: dancing partners, teammates, bandmembers.

I understand the discussion about plural nouns and using either singular or plural verbs. My beef is that the winner should be the couple “who” (instead of “that”) gets the most points. “Who” is for people; “that” is for anything else.

The pronoun who refers to people only, but it is a myth that that may not refer to people as well as things. It has for centuries. The King James version of the Bible, for example, refers to “He that is without sin.” We will acknowledge this use of that in the eleventh edition of The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, which will be published in February 2014. We will also be making this change to the GrammarBook.com website at that time.

It’s a bit late in the day, I know. I don’t know whether this has been mentioned already or whether it’s because I’m English, but the whole basis of the assertion by the author is fundamentally flawed. You can’t simply extract the word “one” from the phrase it is inextricably connected to and call it the subject just because it suits you.
Subjects can be multi-word, as we know. The subject here is an example of this: “one in four people worldwide” is the subject. You can’t just take the first word and call it the subject and the rest of the words prepositional. Could you write this sentence without “in four people worldwide” and retain any sense of its intended meaning? No.
As there aren’t just four people in the world, one in four represents a number larger than one and is thus plural. Hence “are” should be used, not “is”.

Perhaps you missed our home page which states, “This site and the Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation represent American English rules.” We stand by the fact that the simple subject of the phrase “one in four people worldwide” is one. “In four people” is a prepositional phrase.

I am in a bit of a conundrum with my boss. He has written in a certificate “full colours is awarded to John”. I am saying that full colours is not a collective noun but rather a series of awards that were achieved to amount to full colors and therefore full colours are awarded to John. Am I wrong?

In America, we are not particularly familiar with full colours (Full Colours). Perhaps it is more common in Commonwealth nations. On the surface, it seems that this award could be interpreted in the singular or plural depending on the context.

Now, now. If you are referring to two married people, would you not say, “There is a couple”? You wouldn’t say, “There are a couple.” Do you ever precede a plural noun using the article ‘a’? Couple can certainly be singular.

We imagine that Theodore Bernstein would likely respond that your example fits nicely into the ten percent of cases where couple is regarded as singular.

So should the sentence read: Option 1) 50% of X amount was paid out; or
Option 2) 50% of X amount were paid out? Thanks.

Percentages are expressed in numerals except when they occur at the beginning of a sentence. Our blog “Subject and Verb Agreement with Collective Nouns” states, “Fractions and percentages, like team and staff, can be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition following.” The subject of the sentence is fifty percent. The object of the preposition of is a monetary amount. The Chicago Manual of Style says, “For measures or money or any other quantities, when the items form a whole that isn’t meant to be divided, use a singular verb.” Fifty percent of $500 was paid out.

UK English makes no sense:
Our team meets on Tuesdays. The team work hard.
Our staff meet on Tuesdays. The staff work hard. I think those would be likeliest.

My emphasis in the blog “Subject and Verb Agreement with Collective Nouns” is to determine whether to use a singular or plural verb depending on whether these nouns are acting as a unit or with individuality within the unit, regardless of any UK or American tendencies. The team and staff in your four sentences each appear to be acting as a unit. Therefore, the singular verbs meets and works should be used in each case.

The subject of this sentence is one percent. Fractions and percentages, like team and staff, can be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition following. In this case Americans is the object of the preposition of. Since Americans is plural, one percent becomes plural in meaning. In the example sentence, the word the is unnecessary and the word richest appears to be an adjective that is missing a word to modify. Also, the word comprise is incorrectly used. One percent of Americans are among the richest people in the world.

Please what about this sentence “50% of the two mangoes is/are spoilt”?
I think you can give us a more practical explanation on the use of fractions.

Your sentence is awkward and should be recast. Since 50 percent of two is one, the sentence is more simply written as “One of the two mangoes is spoiled.” (The subject of the sentence is “One,” which is singular. Therefore, use the singular verb “is.”) However, if we remove the word “two” from your sentence, in formal American English it would be written as “Fifty percent of the mangoes are spoiled.” The subject of your sentence is 50%. Fractions and percentages can be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition following. In this case mangoes is the object of the preposition of. Mangoes is plural; therefore, use are. Also, our Rule 1 of Writing Numbers says, “Spell out all numbers beginning a sentence.”

Thank you for your helpful blog! Is the sentence “The majority of the population reside in urban areas” in correct form? Thank you

With words like majority that indicate portions—some, all, none, etc.—look at the noun in your of phrase (object of the preposition) to determine whether to use a singular or plural verb. If the object of the preposition is singular, use a singular verb. If the object of the preposition is plural, use a plural verb. The word population is a collective noun that can take either a singular or plural verb, depending on the intention of the author. If you are the author, you determine whether majority of the population represents a single group or multiple groups (perhaps because they live in various different urban areas).

1(singular) group of data “is”. More than 1 group of data (ex. physical and chemical data) “are”. So substitute the word ” group” as the noun, or “groups” as the noun and you can’t go wrong. The word “data” is already plural. Likewise, “majority” is already plural, so if it is used in reference to more than 1 group, as in “the majority of TEAMS”, the verb is plural – to match the subject(TEAMS) which is already plural. I disagree that you can say “data are” unless you are talking about more than 1 group of data. Bottom line: a group “is” and groups “are”.

The Associated Press Stylebook classifies data as a plural noun, normally taking plural verbs and pronouns. An additional note indicates that some words, such as data, that are plural in form become collective nouns and take singular verbs when the group or quantity is regarded as a unit. Examples:
The data is sound. (A unit.)
The data have been carefully collected. (Individual items.) With words like majority that indicate portions—some, all, none, etc.—look at the noun in your of phrase (object of the preposition) to determine whether to use a singular or plural verb.

How would you treat the word, ‘college?’ Seems to me it is in the same family as ‘team’ and ‘staff’ in that it can be treated as both singular or plural, depending on the sentence. Most of the time it is treated as singular as in: ‘The college celebrated its anniversary this year.’ But if, say, the college’s stakeholders or students are being referred to, can it be plural, as in, ‘I really like Humber College’s mission statement–theirs is the easiest to understand.’ Your thoughts?

In your second sentence the word “College’s” is possessive rather than plural. We recommend emphasis on the subject of the sentence, which is “mission statement.” Also, in formal writing an em dash should be used sparingly. I really like Humber College’s mission statement. It is the easiest to understand.

Could you please help me? Which is correct of the following two sentences? A large proportion of subjects with this disease were reported. A large proportion of subjects with this disease was reported.

With words like proportion that indicate portions—some, all, none, etc.—look at the noun in your of phrase (object of the preposition) to determine whether to use a singular or plural verb. If the object of the preposition is singular, use a singular verb. If the object of the preposition is plural, use a plural verb. Since the object of the preposition is “subjects,” use the plural verb “were.” A large proportion of subjects with this disease were reported.

What to punctuation mark should be used in this sentence? The candle becomes shorter. Heat changes the _______ of the candle(period or question mark)?

If this is a written exercise for students, we assume you have provided instructions to fill in the blank with the correct word. Since your sentence is not a question, use a period. Heat changes the _______ of the candle.

“A family of ducks was resting on the grass.”
“A family of ducks were resting on the grass.” Sentences of this form are more difficult than the examples above, because the verb immediately follows the plural noun while the subject is indisputably singular and is enforced by the article. It makes one envy those whose vernacular uses only “was” as in “Them ducks was ….” In these no-win cases, I usually make the choice that seems less likely to disrupt the majority of readers, though it is grammatically wrong. Agreed? (Would be grateful for your reply by email.)

In formal writing, we recommend the grammatically correct construction even if it might trouble some readers. In this case, the collective noun, family, is singular as each duck is doing the same thing and therefore acting as a unit: “A family of ducks was resting on the grass.”

I am confused about this. You wrote earlier: ‘Example (an actual headline from CNN.com): Nearly one in four people worldwide is/are Muslim.
People is NOT a collective noun like team or staff. It is a plural noun. However, the subject is one, which is singular and takes a singular verb. So the answer is is. In the above sentence, the prepositional phrase is in four people. This means that people is the object of the preposition.’ Are you saying that the correct answer would then be:
Nearly one in four people worldwide are Muslim.
rather than, ‘…the answer is is.’? If this is so, then it makes sense to me and conforms to what appears to be happening in the example of the ducks sentence. If not, then can you explain, please? Many thanks.

The correct sentence is Nearly one in four people worldwide is Muslim. The subject of the sentence is one, which is singular and takes a singular verb. The rule you are writing about only applies to collective nouns. The word one is not a collective noun, it is a singular noun. In the sentence A family of ducks were resting on the grass, the subject of the sentence is family, which is a collective noun. In this case, the writer may decide whether to use a singular or plural verb, depending on whether he thinks of the “family” as a unit or as individual beings within that unit.

If we use a mass noun (such as “furniture,” that normally takes a singular verb) but talk about two or more units, should we use a singular or a plural verb?
– Two pieces of furniture are available.
– Two pieces of furniture is available. My bet is that the verb should be plural (e.g. are). However, I am a non-native speaker of English and got confused after Reading here that the verb must agree with the object of the preposition (which I think is “furniture” in this case). Any help will be greatly appreciated!

The subject in your sentence is pieces. Therefore, the verb must be plural (are) to agree with the subject. The rule you are referring to applies only to portion words such as a lot, some, all, etc., which are singular or plural depending on what they refer to in the sentence, which is usually the object of the preposition of.

Could you please help me? I can use the word “State” like a collective noum and to write the verbs in plural. When I am talking about State as an isntitucion. For example, The state have to look after the citizens.

Regarding capitalization, Chicago Manual of Style says, “Words denoting political divisions—from empire, republic, and state down to ward and precinct—are capitalized when they follow a name and are used as an accepted part of the name. When preceding the name, such terms are usually capitalized in names of countries but lowercased in entities below the national level. Used alone, they are usually lowercased. Example: Washington State; the state of Washington.”
It does take a singular verb: The state has to look after its citizens.

Class titles may be capitalized when used formally with a specific school such as Washington High School Class of 2012. Terms denoting student status such as senior and junior are lowercased. Also, since the senior class of 2012 is acting as a single unit (further evidenced by the use of the singular possessive pronoun its), the singular verb announces should be used. “The senior class of 2012 announces its commencement exercises.”

I came across a sentence that I believe has a subject/verb agreement problem. Please find the example below: This was taken from your web-site He is one of the men who does/do the work.
The word in front of who is men, which is plural. Therefore, use the plural verb do. Now, the sentence below, in assessment, has a subject/conflict, when your above stated rule is applied. This was taken from Purdue’s web-site An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought. Isn’t both sentences follow the same pattern and have the same elements; and therefore, they should carry the same subject/verb agreement.

You have found a couple of tricky sentences, and we must be careful selecting the correct rules to apply. The example from our website is from Rule 14 of Subject and Verb Agreement and deals with the pronouns who, that, or which, and how the verb must agree with the noun in front of these pronouns. The Purdue example does not contain the pronouns who, that, or which. It does follow our Rule 2 of Finding Subjects and Verbs, which states, “A subject will come before a phrase beginning with of.” That subject is “group” and it agrees with the singular verb “contains.”

Here are my doubts. 1) “We have a team of professionals who take care of their duties.” 2) “We have a team of professionals, which takes care of its duties.” 3) India has a team of players who are dedicated. Which of these is right? Can one use all these variations? I have come across people preferring the first and the third ones, and they have argued that we should use ‘who’ in both cases because it comes just after “professionals” and “players”, both of which are living beings. And we can only use which after inanimate things. Can you please throw some light on this and explain what one should do with such constructions?

Your first and third sentences are correct. In the first sentence, note that the object of of is the entire phrase “professionals who take care of their duties.” In the second sentence, the object of of is the phrase “professionals who are dedicated.” The pronoun that instead of who would also be acceptable. The second sentence is grammatical, but terminally awkward, so we cannot condone it.

I would like help from you. Can you tell me which one of the sentences mentioned below are grammatically correct? 1. I have finished my homework. I will take rest now.
or I have finished my homework. I am going to take rest now. 2. I have finished my homework. I think I am going to have a cup of tea. I have finished my homework. I think I will have a cup of tea.

Both pairs of sentences 1 and 2 are grammatically correct. However, regarding pair number 1, in American English, we would omit the word “take.” We would simply say “I will rest now” or “I am going to rest now.”

Could you please tell me which of these two sentences is correct? 1. “Loss of life and serious injury in our skies are unacceptable.” Or 2. “Loss of life and serious injury in our skies is unacceptable.” Thank you!

Our Rule 6 of Subject and Verb Agreement says, “As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and.” “Loss of life and serious injury in our skies are unacceptable.”

I receive your newsletter and always enjoy, and learn from, your very clear and concise explanations of grammar rules. One thing I read and hear that diverts my attention from what is being said to how it’s being said involves number agreement. For instance, someone may say “My number one fear is heart attacks.” Obviously, the speaker fears “a heart attack” or simply “heart attack,” yet so often the subject and predicate nominative (if I remember my junior high school English correctly) don’t agree in number. In my career as a court reporter, I was not in a position to alter any spoken words, but as a fledgling writer, I still reword sentences to avoid this construction simply because it doesn’t sound right. Secondly, another question involving number: “Would everyone please take their seat.” I don’t think anyone would say, “The drivers got in their car and left,” yet it’s common to hear that they should “take their seat.” Would appreciate your help. Thanks so much,

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, we agree that we often see and hear incorrect subject and verb agreement. In the case of your first sentence, “My number one fear is heart attacks,” the sentence is not incorrect, but it is awkwardly stated. The subject of the sentence is “fear,” which is singular. The singular verb “is” agrees with the subject. The object, “heart attacks,” is plural, which makes the sentence sound odd. Does the person fear having a single heart attack or having multiple heart attacks? We don’t know. Regarding the second sentence, our Rule 8 of Subject and Verb Agreement says, “The pronouns each, everyone, every one, everybody, anyone, anybody, someone, and somebody are singular and require singular verbs.” The grammatically correct sentence could be “Would all passengers please take their seats,” or the cumbersome “Would everyone please take his or her seat.”

Sally,
I agree wholeheartedly with your statement about subjects and predicate nominatives that are different in number. Like you, I change sentence structure to avoid this problem.
The sentence that I first noticed with this particular issue is the bible verse, “The wages of sin is death.”

help me on this sentence..which one is correct? 1. But if the team consisted of 10 or more, grouping of teams will be consummated. 2.But if the teams consisted of 10 or more, grouping of teams will be consummated. “team” or “teams” over the verb consisted

From what you have stated, we cannot tell whether you are addressing your comment at one team or more than one team, whether you are referring to the number of teams, or to the number of players on each team. Also, we do not know what came before this sentence to justify beginning with the word But. Finally, grouping of teams will be consummated is an odd phrasing. We do not understand what this means. We’re sorry, but we can make no recommendation on how to properly write your sentence.

I was going through the blog and believe me it is quite a helpful one. Just one query mentioned above has created a doubt in my mind. Could you please tell me which of these two sentences is correct?
1. “Loss of life and serious injury in our skies are unacceptable.”
Or
2. “Loss of life and serious injury in our skies is unacceptable.” As per your answer above the 1st option is correct but I have read a rule that “If two singular nouns joined by and refer to the SAME THING the verb used with them should be singular.
Hence I am a little confused. It will be great if you can elaborate a little on the words “same thing” in the rule I have stated above. Many Thanks.

Note that our Rule 6 of “Subject and Verb Agreement” states “As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and.” There are exceptions to this rule when the subjects or nouns in the sentence form a single entity or unit, collective idea, or oneness of idea. (You called it “the same thing” but that may be too restrictive.) Examples we have seen where a singular verb is used with two subjects connected by and include “Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite snack,” “Profit and loss is important to every business,” and “Spaghetti and meatballs goes well with garlic bread.” In these cases, the interpretation of “oneness of idea” is essentially up to the author of the sentence. In view of this, either “Loss of life and serious injury in our skies are unacceptable” or “Loss of life and serious injury in our skies is unacceptable” is all right.

I come from a bygone age when, from the age of nine years, I was taught to parse sentences. Additionally, I studied Latin for four years in my adolescence and at the same time became reasonably proficient in French. I speak Hungarian as well. I believe I have a reasonably firm grasp of grammar. A collective noun is a singular noun – always. Therefore, when it is the subject of a verb, that verb is conjugated in its singular forms. Therefore, an army always IS, a parliament always IS, a couple always IS. The reason why some people think correct grammar might sometimes sound strange is because formal grammar has not been taught in our schools for decades (it stopped being taught in Australian schools in the 1970s, though it has returned in a cruder form recently) – I believe for ideological reasons. People simply are not used to hearing English spoken in its correct form and revert to the constructions they hear commonly, often on that great educator of the masses: television. Not only do the present teachers not know grammar but those who taught those teachers did not know it. Consequently, this knowledge has been lost and the result is that English has become even more chaotic than it was previously. What is now taught in our schools (at least in my country) is a pale and poor reflection of the richness and depth of grammar that was taught before. It follows, we are confused about collective nouns, ratios (by that I include percentages) and apostrophes. To add further insult to literacy, spelling has become an inconvenient irrelevance. (Don’t get me started about apostrophes…)

Our English language evolves whether we like it, or whether we like the reasons for it, or not. We are following The Chicago Manual of Style’s rule, which says, “When the subject is a collective noun conveying the idea of unity or multitude, the verb is singular . When the subject is a collective noun conveying the idea of plurality, the verb is plural .”

A period of time, when considered as a unit, takes a singular verb: Five months is over.
You could also write “The five-month waiting period is over” since the noun is now period, which also is singular.

I am a researcher and I want to know about the common errors in subject-verb agreement and I wish I have some of the theoretical framework and conceptual framework of your book. I’ll use it as a reference.

I have a question I’m sure I know the answer to but would like clarification on since I use the phrase daily in my work.
90 days jail were ordered
or
90 days jail was ordered.
Seems like either days is probably the subject since it should probably read 90 days of jail were ordered, making jail part of a preposition phrase.
Would love your opinion. Thanks!

Our Rule 13 of Subject and Verb Agreement says, “Use a singular verb with sums of money or periods of time.”
Examples:
Ten dollars is a high price to pay.
Five years is the maximum sentence for that offense. Also, Rule 16 of Writing Numbers says, “Write out a number if it begins a sentence.” Therefore, your sentence should be written “Ninety days jail was ordered.” Or, avoid these sticky areas with “The defendant was sentenced to 90 days in jail.”

I would like to know about the ‘A group of schools invites’ or ‘invite’ for some occasion.Our school is going to hold a programme and we are a part of other two schools or rather it is a group of schools….So what should be use as verb agreement here? Carmel group of schools invites you or Carmel group of schools invite you…..

The word group is a collective noun. Collective nouns can be tricky because it is up to the author of the sentence to determine whether the noun is acting as a single unit, or whether the sentence indicates more individuality. In your sentence, if there is one program and you want to emphasize that the group of schools is coming together as a unit to sponsor the program, you should write “Carmel group of schools invites you…” If you want to emphasize that the three schools individually are sponsoring the event, write “Carmel group of schools invite you…”

Thank you for your clearly stated and helpful responses on this topic. I’m having trouble with singular-plural subject mixes where it seems an argument could be made for each form. Which is correct in the following examples? 1. A series of forums begin today
2. A series of forums begins today and 1. A group of doctors is traveling to Haiti
2. A group of doctors are traveling to Haiti. Thank you.

A series is singular, while several series, multiple series, etc. would be plural. Therefore, “A series of forums begins today” is correct. Similarly, “A group of doctors is traveling to Haiti” is correct. As for total, it follows roughly the same rules as number: a number of/total of will generally be plural, the number of/total of will be singular. Therefore, “There are a total of 39 candidates” is correct.

In the case of a group of doctors is travelling ….in the earlier rules you’ve mentioned that a collective noun followed by a plural object of preposition agrees to a plural verb in various instances…. Eg “India has a team of players who are dedicated” here we use ‘are’..
similarly, group is a collective noun followed by doctors.. should’nt it it be “a group of doctors are traveling to haiti?”

Our response of April 20, 2012, now reflects the family acting as a unit, “A family of ducks was resting on the grass.”

Some collective nouns may take either a singular or a plural verb, depending on their use in the sentence. Collective nouns can be tricky because it is up to the author of the sentence to determine whether the noun is acting as a single unit, or whether the sentence indicates more individuality. In your first example, “India has a team of players who are dedicated,” the team of players are acting with individuality within the unit. In your sentence “A group of doctors is traveling to Haiti,” the word group is a collective noun that is acting as a unit. Therefore, it is treated as a singular noun and uses the singular verb is.

On this page, https://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/subjectVerbAgree.asp, in rule 14 “He is one of the men who does/do the work.
The word in front of who is men, which is plural. Therefore, use the plural verb do.” Shouldn’t the answer be “does”? I am asking because even though “men” is plural, the “one of the men” is indicating a singular object which would require the use of a singular verb. I would just like to know if I am incorrect with this thought.

The sentence you cite is intentionally meant to illustrate how Rule 14 works. Again, Rule 14 says, “Sometimes the pronoun who, that, or which is the subject of a verb in the middle of the sentence. The pronouns who, that, and which become singular or plural according to the noun directly in front of them. So, if that noun is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb.” Since who is in the middle of the sentence, preceded by the noun men, which is plural, we use the plural verb do. You need not consider the word one in the sentence. This is a different situation from the sentence, “One of the men do/does all of the work.” One could also fall into the list of pronouns contained in Rule 8, “The pronouns each, everyone, every one, everybody, anyone, anybody, someone, and somebody are singular and require singular verbs. Do not be misled by what follows of.” Since this sentence does not contain who, that, or which, follow Rule 8: One of the men does all of the work.

Brilliant! This has bothered me for a long time. Now I can confidently explain why staff TAKES vacation time. I am still bothered by using plurals to modify singular collective nouns with plural subjects. I would feel better if staff MEMBERS take separate vacations.

“Stop Traffic! The Bush Family Are Related To A Slave Trader”.
Shouldn’t the verb in this case be “is”? This brings up a larger point. English plural is being used in an increasing number of instances for all collective nouns. (This is appearing in AP press releases, local newspaper articles, NYT articles, TV guide on-screen descriptions of cable programs.) It seems to be the beginning of an incremental approach to the using of English rules of grammar in lieu of American rules of grammar. Do you see this trend? If so, do you know why it is happening?

We agree; the verb should be “is.” We have not noticed English plural being used in an increasing number of instances for all collective nouns. AP Stylebook’s rules regarding collective nouns are as follows: Nouns that denote a unit take singular verbs and pronouns: class, committee, crowd, family, group, herd, jury, orchestra, team.
Some usage examples: The committee is meeting to set its agenda. The jury reached its verdict. A herd of cattle was sold.
Team names and musical group names that are plural take plural verbs. The Yankees are in first place. The Jonas Brothers are popular.
Team or group names with no plural forms also take plural verbs: The Miami Heat are battling for third place. Other examples: Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz.
Many singular names take singular verbs: Coldplay is on tour. Boston is favored in the playoffs. The Cardinal is in the NCAA tournament.
But some proper names that are plural in form take a singular verb: Brooks Brothers is holding a sale.
PLURAL IN FORM: Some words that are plural in form become collective nouns and take singular verbs when the group or quantity is regarded as a unit.
Right: A thousand bushels is a good yield. (A unit.)
Right: A thousand bushels were created. (Individual items.)
Right: The data is sound. (A unit.)
Right: The data have been carefully collected. (Individual items.)

Is furniture a mass noun? if so, is there such a possibility to use it in plural form. i’m just a bit confused actually. please help me know.Does it require a plural or singular verb? please provide me lot of illustrations. thank you. god bless.

Yes, furniture is a mass noun. It is considered singular and requires a singular verb. Your new furniture is beautiful.
Her furniture was delivered yesterday.
That furniture makes the room look smaller.
Our living room furniture needs to be replaced soon.

Is this correct?
“Now I understand why people in Saudi keeps on asking Panadol eventhough they aren’t in pain.”
or should I say,
“Now I understand why people in Saudi keep on asking Panadol eventhough they aren’t in pain.”

The word people is a plural noun so you need the plural verb keep. Note other needed corrections in italics. “Now I understand why people in Saudi Arabia keep on asking for Panadol even though they aren’t in pain.” OR “Now I understand why people in Saudi Arabia keep on taking Panadol even though they aren’t in pain.”

Are both of these correct or only one? “A group of cowboys are sitting around the campfire” “A group of cowboys is sitting around the campfire

Since the group is acting as a unit and is not a fraction or percentage, write “A group of cowboys is sitting around the campfire.”

Our staff meets/meet on Tuesday mornings to discuss customer complaints.(ans: meets)
how come ‘meets’ is the answer? my doubt is the staff are going to discuss the customer complaints so i feel like ‘meet’ is the answer.

In your sentence the word staff is a collective noun that is acting as a unit. Therefore, in American English, it is treated as a singular noun and uses the singular verb meets. However, in British English, the staff are would not be considered wrong.

Which is correct? The pack of wolves is running through the forest.
The pack of wolves are running through the forest. I think “is” is the correct form.

Could you please help with this sentence: Our licensed, credentialed, and multidisciplinary
team of professionals works together… OR Our licensed, credentialed, and multidisciplinary
team of professionals work together… I thought the first one is correct, but perhaps I’m wrong. Your help is greatly appreciated!!

Since team is a singular noun, the sentence as written creates an awkward problem. This problem is perhaps best avoided by rewriting the sentence: The licensed, credentialed, and multidisciplinary professionals on our team work together…

“One in five plays wins.” or “One in five plays win.” I feel like “five” is the subject in this sentence, but can’t seem to get much traction here in the office.

I am writing a poem with the line…”Your face, your smile, your laugh, your life, are yours alone.” I am pretty sure ARE is correct, but both are and is sound equally right to my ear! Can you tell me the correct one? Thanks.

Since you have multiple subjects in your sentence, use the plural verb are. Also, many editors would remove the comma after “life.”

We assume the sentence refers to more than one citizen. To form the possessive of the plural word citizens, the apostrophe is used after the s.

I was wondering if you could help:
To eat and to sleep is/are?
To run and to jump is/are?
My mother, along with her friends is/are going to the movies.
Many thanks!

Your first two examples each contain two subjects linked by and. Therefore, use the plural verb are. Regarding your sentence, sometimes the subject is separated from the verb by words such as along with, as well as, besides, or not. Ignore these expressions when determining whether to use a singular or plural verb. A comma is needed after the word friends. To eat and to sleep are…
To run and to jump are… My mother, along with her friends, is going to the movies.

Please help me confirm the following sentence is correct: “It is important to attend the meeting because ‘resources’ is such an important topic.” Because there is a topic termed “resources”, I was thinking it should be treated as a singular noun. Am I incorrect?