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Collective Noun ... usage

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Collective Noun ... usage

by beat_gmat_09 » Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:05 am
Which one is correct -

1) The Team has issued its performance report.
2) The Team are divided on one minor point.

As far as my knowledge goes, collective nouns are singular, is the second statement correct ?
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by FightWithGMAT » Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:12 am
Well, in colloquial English, we keep hearing "France team win the game".
What is the standard in GMAT
team wins
or
team win

Police come
or
Police comes
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by beat_gmat_09 » Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:51 am
FightWithGMAT wrote:Well, in colloquial English, we keep hearing "France team win the game".
What is the standard in GMAT
team wins
or
team win

Police come
or
Police comes
Team,government,company etc are sometimes taken to be singular as well as plural
eg - Scotland are playing France next week (in a football match)
Shell have increased price of petrol
..... here singular verb is also possible (wants/has)

Police -> always taken as plural , a person in police is policewoman/policeman/police officer and is singular.

The point about collective noun, which i have mentioned,says : if a collective noun is thought of the individuals of which it is composed then the collective noun should be taken as plural, otherwise singular.

As you said the point here is What is standard in GMAT, does GMAT test such questions.
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by Shawshank » Tue Apr 27, 2010 5:58 am
beat_gmat_09 wrote:Which one is correct -

1) The Team has issued its performance report.
2) The Team are divided on one minor point.

As far as my knowledge goes, collective nouns are singular, is the second statement correct ?
Both Seem to be correct.
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by arpita@gurome » Tue Apr 27, 2010 9:40 pm
Both the sentences are correct. Collective nouns can be singular as well as plural depending on the their usage.
In the first sentence, "The Team has issued its performance report" - the meaning the sentence conveys is that he entire team has collectively issued a report. The "team" is treated as a singular unit and should therefore be followed by a singular verb.

In the second sentence, "The Team are divided on one minor point" - the meaning the sentence conveys is that the members of the team do not agree on a minor point. Here the focus is on individual team members rather than the team as a collective unit, therefore the plural verb "are" is appropriate.

Here is one more example from the Gurome Sentence Correction Book which will help you understand the concept better:

While the play was being performed the audience was a picture of silence and showed its appreciation; the minute the play came to an end the audience rushed to get out of their seats and head towards their cars.

In the first sentence, "the audience" is treated as a single unit, but in the second sentence, the focus is on individual members of the audience.

Hope that helps. :)
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by chakao » Mon Aug 02, 2010 5:31 pm
arpita@gurome wrote:Both the sentences are correct. Collective nouns can be singular as well as plural depending on the their usage.
In the first sentence, "The Team has issued its performance report" - the meaning the sentence conveys is that he entire team has collectively issued a report. The "team" is treated as a singular unit and should therefore be followed by a singular verb.

In the second sentence, "The Team are divided on one minor point" - the meaning the sentence conveys is that the members of the team do not agree on a minor point. Here the focus is on individual team members rather than the team as a collective unit, therefore the plural verb "are" is appropriate.

Here is one more example from the Gurome Sentence Correction Book which will help you understand the concept better:

While the play was being performed the audience was a picture of silence and showed its appreciation; the minute the play came to an end the audience rushed to get out of their seats and head towards their cars.

In the first sentence, "the audience" is treated as a single unit, but in the second sentence, the focus is on individual members of the audience.

Hope that helps. :)

Is the following sentence correct:-
A majority of the shareholders wants the merger.

I have a hunch it should be
A majority of the shareholders want the merger.

All help is appreciated!
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by reply2spg » Mon Aug 02, 2010 8:41 pm
If I am not wrong then 'a majority' works like 'a number'. Since 'a number' is plural , 'a majority' is also plural.
chakao wrote:
arpita@gurome wrote:Both the sentences are correct. Collective nouns can be singular as well as plural depending on the their usage.
In the first sentence, "The Team has issued its performance report" - the meaning the sentence conveys is that he entire team has collectively issued a report. The "team" is treated as a singular unit and should therefore be followed by a singular verb.

In the second sentence, "The Team are divided on one minor point" - the meaning the sentence conveys is that the members of the team do not agree on a minor point. Here the focus is on individual team members rather than the team as a collective unit, therefore the plural verb "are" is appropriate.

Here is one more example from the Gurome Sentence Correction Book which will help you understand the concept better:

While the play was being performed the audience was a picture of silence and showed its appreciation; the minute the play came to an end the audience rushed to get out of their seats and head towards their cars.

In the first sentence, "the audience" is treated as a single unit, but in the second sentence, the focus is on individual members of the audience.

Hope that helps. :)

Is the following sentence correct:-
A majority of the shareholders wants the merger.

I have a hunch it should be
A majority of the shareholders want the merger.

All help is appreciated!
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by chakao » Mon Aug 02, 2010 9:50 pm
reply2spg wrote:If I am not wrong then 'a majority' works like 'a number'. Since 'a number' is plural , 'a majority' is also plural.
chakao wrote:
arpita@gurome wrote:Both the sentences are correct. Collective nouns can be singular as well as plural depending on the their usage.
In the first sentence, "The Team has issued its performance report" - the meaning the sentence conveys is that he entire team has collectively issued a report. The "team" is treated as a singular unit and should therefore be followed by a singular verb.

In the second sentence, "The Team are divided on one minor point" - the meaning the sentence conveys is that the members of the team do not agree on a minor point. Here the focus is on individual team members rather than the team as a collective unit, therefore the plural verb "are" is appropriate.

Here is one more example from the Gurome Sentence Correction Book which will help you understand the concept better:

While the play was being performed the audience was a picture of silence and showed its appreciation; the minute the play came to an end the audience rushed to get out of their seats and head towards their cars.

In the first sentence, "the audience" is treated as a single unit, but in the second sentence, the focus is on individual members of the audience.

Hope that helps. :)

Is the following sentence correct:-
A majority of the shareholders wants the merger.

I have a hunch it should be
A majority of the shareholders want the merger.

All help is appreciated!
Hey reply2spg,
Don't sure if "majority" always works like a number or not. But the Manhattan GMAT SC Guide clearly says that the words "majority", "minority" and "plurality" can work as either singular or plural, depending on their context.
So I guess we are back on square one.
Let me know your thoughts on this.
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by arpita@gurome » Mon Aug 02, 2010 10:07 pm
chakao wrote:
arpita@gurome wrote:Both the sentences are correct. Collective nouns can be singular as well as plural depending on the their usage.
In the first sentence, "The Team has issued its performance report" - the meaning the sentence conveys is that he entire team has collectively issued a report. The "team" is treated as a singular unit and should therefore be followed by a singular verb.

In the second sentence, "The Team are divided on one minor point" - the meaning the sentence conveys is that the members of the team do not agree on a minor point. Here the focus is on individual team members rather than the team as a collective unit, therefore the plural verb "are" is appropriate.

Here is one more example from the Gurome Sentence Correction Book which will help you understand the concept better:

While the play was being performed the audience was a picture of silence and showed its appreciation; the minute the play came to an end the audience rushed to get out of their seats and head towards their cars.

In the first sentence, "the audience" is treated as a single unit, but in the second sentence, the focus is on individual members of the audience.

Hope that helps. :)

Is the following sentence correct:-
A majority of the shareholders wants the merger.

I have a hunch it should be
A majority of the shareholders want the merger.

All help is appreciated!
"Majority" is again one of those words in the English language that can be used as both singular and plural. You are quite correct in your "hunch" that in the sentence "A majority of the shareholders want the merger", the noun "majority" should be treated as plural because it refers to a collection of individuals. However, when the noun "majority" is used to indicate a collective group, "A 90% majority is opposed to the merger", it takes a singular verb.

Hope that helps. :)
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by chakao » Mon Aug 02, 2010 11:10 pm
Thanks Arpita.. That was quick and helpful.. :)
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by FightWithGMAT » Tue Aug 03, 2010 11:18 am
arpita@gurome wrote:
chakao wrote:
arpita@gurome wrote:Both the sentences are correct. Collective nouns can be singular as well as plural depending on the their usage.
In the first sentence, "The Team has issued its performance report" - the meaning the sentence conveys is that he entire team has collectively issued a report. The "team" is treated as a singular unit and should therefore be followed by a singular verb.

In the second sentence, "The Team are divided on one minor point" - the meaning the sentence conveys is that the members of the team do not agree on a minor point. Here the focus is on individual team members rather than the team as a collective unit, therefore the plural verb "are" is appropriate.

Here is one more example from the Gurome Sentence Correction Book which will help you understand the concept better:

While the play was being performed the audience was a picture of silence and showed its appreciation; the minute the play came to an end the audience rushed to get out of their seats and head towards their cars.

In the first sentence, "the audience" is treated as a single unit, but in the second sentence, the focus is on individual members of the audience.

Hope that helps. :)

Is the following sentence correct:-
A majority of the shareholders wants the merger.

I have a hunch it should be
A majority of the shareholders want the merger.

All help is appreciated!
"Majority" is again one of those words in the English language that can be used as both singular and plural. You are quite correct in your "hunch" that in the sentence "A majority of the shareholders want the merger", the noun "majority" should be treated as plural because it refers to a collection of individuals. However, when the noun "majority" is used to indicate a collective group, "A 90% majority is opposed to the merger", it takes a singular verb.

Hope that helps. :)
This is taken from OG.

According to a recent poll, owning and living in a freestanding house on ITS own land is still a goal of a majority of young adults, like that of earlier generations.


Though the question does not test "a majority concept", A MAJORITY OF YOUNG ADULTS is singular in the sentence


MGMAT only explains THE MAJORITY OF STUDENTS.......it does not say anything about A MAJORITY OF STUDENTS.

Are these two constructions same?

They are not same as THE NUMBER AND A NUMBER are

The number of students is
A number of students are

whereas

The majority of students are
A majority of students ???????
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by tomada » Tue Aug 03, 2010 12:07 pm
I think the sentence "The Team are divided on one minor point" is incorrect. This sentence should be "The Team is divided on one minor point". Alternatively, you could say "The members of the team are divided on one minor point".
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