Need a help on a sentence

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umaa: Legendary Member; Posts: 727; Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:32 pm; Thanked: 8 times; Followed by:1 members

Need a help on a sentence

by umaa » Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:19 pm

The police have significantly reduced violent crime and are pleased with themselves from doing so.

Is it correct?

Don't you think the below is correct?
The police has significantly reduced violent crime and is pleased with itself from doing so.

Police is a singular noun.

Found the first one as correct in Manhattan GMAT SC Guide. (Chapter5 - Pronouns)

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:19 pm

mooreliberty: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 32; Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:11 pm; Location: AZ; Thanked: 1 times; GMAT Score:680

Re: Need a help on a sentence

by mooreliberty » Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:35 pm

umaa wrote:The police have significantly reduced violent crime and are pleased with themselves from doing so.

Is it correct?

Don't you think the below is correct?
The police has significantly reduced violent crime and is pleased with itself from doing so.

Police is a singular noun.

Found the first one as correct in Manhattan GMAT SC Guide. (Chapter5 - Pronouns)

What part of the sentence was underlined?

Either way, think of "the police" as a substitute for "the policemen and policewomen." If you think of it this way, it is easier to think of "the police" as plural. On the other hand, if you think of the police as a single unit -- as a police force -- then the sentence structure must reflect that.

With that said, it is my opinion that "police" is treated in the same manner as "cops" - a little more crude, but it makes a better point.

For the second sentence to be "GMAT friendly" I think a few changes would need to be made:

The police force has significantly reduced violent crime and its members are pleased with themselves from doing so.

The police force as an entity, cannot be pleased with itself. Its members, managers, and/or boosters can be proud, but a organization cannot.

Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. - Barry Goldwater

(Inspired by Thomas Paine in The Rights of Man).

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graghukalyan: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 50; Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2009 2:36 am; Thanked: 1 times

by graghukalyan » Thu Jul 02, 2009 12:59 am

I second @mooreliberty.

As per my understanding the rule regarding the Collective Nouns has been that if we try to focus on the individual entities or members in a collective noun, we tend to use plural verb rather than singular.

One more example : The committee has reached its decision.
Here because overall its a unanimous decision. Hence usage of singular is justified.

But when the focus is on the individual members of the group, English uses a plural verb and plural pronouns.

For example - "The committee have been arguing all morning." This is the same as saying "The people in the committe have been ...."

Pls validate my understanding.

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S0laris: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 131; Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 7:02 am; Location: Azerbaijan/Baku; Thanked: 2 times

Re: Need a help on a sentence

by S0laris » Thu Jul 02, 2009 5:24 am

umaa wrote:The police have significantly reduced violent crime and are pleased with themselves from doing so.

Is it correct?

Don't you think the below is correct?
The police has significantly reduced violent crime and is pleased with itself from doing so.

Police is a singular noun.

Found the first one as correct in Manhattan GMAT SC Guide. (Chapter5 - Pronouns)

There are some exceptions considered as plural: police, cattle, people

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