Subject-Verb Agreement Collective Nouns
Subject-Verb Agreement Collective Nouns
Subject-Verb Agreement Collective Nouns
a. Every afternoon the baseball team follows its coach out to the hot field
for practice.
• team = singular
• follows = a singular verb
• its = a singular pronoun.
All members of the team arrive at the same place at the same time.
• class = singular
• takes = a singular verb
• its = a singular pronoun
c. The jury agrees that the state prosecutors did not provide enough
evidence, so its verdict is not guilty.
• jury = singular
• agrees = a singular verb
• its = a singular pronoun.
a. After the three-hour practice under the brutal sun, the team shower,
change into their street clothes, and head to their air-conditioned
homes.
• team = plural
• shower, change, head = plural verbs
• their = a plural pronoun
The teammates are dressing into their individual outfits and leaving in different
directions for their individual homes.
b. After the long exam, the class start their research papers on famous
mathematicians.
• class = plural
• start = a plural verb
• their = a plural pronoun.
The students are beginning their own research papers—in different places, at different
times, on different mathematicians.
c. The jury disagree about the guilt of the accused and have told the judge
that they are hopelessly deadlocked.
• jury = plural
• disagree, have told = plural verbs
• they = a plural pronoun
5. When you write your compositions and you cannot decide if a collective noun is singular
or plural, exercise your options as a writer. You have two ways that you can compose
the sentence without causing an agreement error:
a. Insert the word members after the collective noun [jury members, committee
members, board members]; or
b. Use an entirely different word [players instead of team, students instead of
class, soldiers instead of army]. Then you can use plural verbs and pronouns
without worrying about making mistakes or sounding unnatural.
The chess club (compare, compares) their strategies so as to win the tournament.
The swarm of reporters (engulfs, engulf) the famous actor all at once.
The crowd (moves, move) to their favourite places along the parade route.
For weeks, the cast (was, were) rehearsing their lines with one another.
ANSWERS
EXERCISE 1: SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT – COLLECTIVE NOUNS
1. class - individuals - (see the word, their...hint to plural) describe