If you missed SVA parts 1 and 2,
you can find them here
and here. Otherwise, continue reading for the penultimate
installment of the SVA miniseries!
Group or collective nouns often
create a conundrum for writers. Are they
singular, are they plural? The answer:
it depends.
If the members of the group are
acting as one whole unit, treat it as a single entity.
For example, “The class is able to resume its
lesson if the distraction is minor.”
Here the subject “class” is
acting together. (The singular pronoun “its”
also indicates that the subject is singular, so the verb should be singular as
well.)
Compare with this example: “The class were arguing amongst
themselves when the teacher walked in.”
Here the same subject (“class”)
is treated as plural because the sentence emphasizes that the individual members of the class each did
something different (they were arguing, which necessitates more than one party
or viewpoint.) So we use a plural verb (“were
arguing”) to agree with the plural subject, class. (As in the first example the pronoun—themselves—gives
a clue about the grammatical number, since “themselves” is plural.)
Even without these kinds of
pronoun markers, you should be able to determine whether a collective noun is
singular or plural. Try the examples
below [answers at the bottom of this entry]:
1.
This organization (is/are) unique because it
caters to a native-born population whose primary language is not English.
2.
The staff (disagrees/disagree) with one another
about the best way to prepare veal—or whether it was even an ethical food
source in the first place.
3.
Faculty (has played/have played) a critical role
in reshaping the admissions criteria in many institutions of higher education.
This will be the last writing tip
before the holidays. After winter
recess, we will resume with the final episode of the SVA series, and then
continue to other topics.
Happy writing, and happy
holidays!
James
Answers: (1) is; (2) disagree;
(3) has played.
