Thank you for your kind words. Yes, we agree that we often see and hear false correspondences of subjects and verbs. In the case of your first sentence, “My number one fear is heart attacks,” the sentence is not wrong, but it is clumsily worded. The theme of the sentence is “fear”, which is singular. The singular verb “is” corresponds to the subject. The object, “heart attack,” is in the plural, which makes the sentence strange. Is the person afraid of having a single heart attack or multiple heart attacks? We do not know. We use the singular verb “is” with a collective noun because a collective noun represents a singular entity. If the collective noun is plural, then the verb follows the rules of the plural noun: Let`s look again at our sample sentences and add another one using a singular noun for students: 1. Is a collective noun, such as the word “group,” treated as a singular or plural noun? 11. Expressions as with, with, including, accompanied by, in addition to or even change the subject number. If the subject is singular, so is the verb.

I would like to know something about the theme “A group of schools invites” or “invites” to an event. Our school will have a program and we are part of two other schools or rather, it is a group of schools. What should be used here as a verb match? The Carmel School Group invites you or the Carmel School Group invites you. Regarding the second sentence, our Rule 8 on the matching of subjects and verbs states: “The pronouns of everyone, everyone, everyone, everyone, everyone, someone and someone are singular and require singular verbs. The grammatically correct sentence could be: “Would all passengers take their place” or the cumbersome phrase “Would everyone take their place?” Some of our Commonwealth readers have taught us that plural verbs with collective nouns are preferred in their country. In American English, we adapt the verb according to whether the collective noun functions as a unit or as separate individuals. We consider “the Coca-Cola Company” to be a singular name, not a collective name. I respectfully disagree with your use of the plural verb when you talk about “team or employee.” I recently heard that a national television reporter uses a plural verb to talk about a married COUPLE — she used it twice. This led me to study it because it is contrary to what I learned in public school (1937 to 1950). I realize that language is evolving, but I will continue to use the singular verb with all collective nouns and when I hear something else, it will continue to rub my nerves.

Collective names can be a bit difficult to identify and use. Are they singular or plural? What type of verb should I use with a collective noun? With a little practice, collective names can be mastered quickly. If all members of a collective noun perform an action as a unit (and usually do), use a singular verb. It`s a little late in the day, I know. I don`t know if this has already been mentioned or if it`s because I`m English, but the whole basis of the author`s claim is fundamentally wrong. You can`t just extract the word “one” from the sentence it`s inextricably linked to and call it the subject just because it suits you. Topics can be several words, as we know. The topic here is an example: “one in four people in the world” is the topic. 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 in the world” and keep an idea of its intended meaning? No. Since there are not only four people in the world, one in four represents a number greater than one and is therefore plural. Therefore, “are” should be used, not “is”. The use of the verb for plural nouns is also the same. Sentences 2 and 3 use the plural verb “are”, and there is no need for an article before the noun. Sentences with singular nouns also use the article “A” before the noun. I am a researcher and I want to know the most common errors in subject-verb matching and I would like to have something of the theoretical and conceptual framework of your book. I will use it as a reference. A collective name is a word or phrase that represents a group of people or things, but is treated as a singular entity (hint: a “collection” of people or things). Although you can count the individual members of the group, you usually think of individuals as a group, a whole, or a unit.

A collective name is a name in the singular – always. So, if it is the subject of a verb, that verb is conjugated in its singular forms. That is why an army is always ISIS, a parliament is always ISIS, a couple is always IS. .