Collective Nouns

[Jessica]

Examples of collective nouns:

• committee
• family
• group
• number
• team

Collective nouns can either be singular or plural. The verb depends on whether the collective noun is being treated as a single unit or as divided individuals.

SINGULAR: The number of people living in Florida varies from year to year.
PLURAL: A number of people living in Florida wish they had voted for Gore.
SINGULAR: The committee decides on the annual program.
PLURAL: The committee have disagreed on the annual program.

You can often determine whether a collective noun is singular or plural by examining the article (“the” or “a”) that precedes it. As in the first example, “The number” is generally singular, while “A number” is generally plural. This difference is demonstrated in the first example above. “The number” of people in Florida is a single entity—even though it comprises multiple individuals—so it takes a singular verb, “varies.” “A number” of people, on the other hand, behave as multiple individuals—even though they wish for the same thing, they act independently of each other—so these people require a plural verb, “wish.”

Looking to the article preceding a noun is a useful trick when deciding whether the noun is singular or plural, but it doesn’t always work. In the second example, “The committee” can be both singular and plural. How the committee behaves (do they act together or apart?) decides whether the verb is singular or plural. If the committee does something as a unified whole (“decides on the annual program”), then the verb is singular. If the committee are divided in their actions (“have disagreed on the annual program”), then the verb is plural.