Subject verb agreenment, collective nouns

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sapuna: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 67; Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:04 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 3 times

by sapuna » Mon Jul 28, 2014 3:53 am

The choir sang passionately, as they moved through elaborate and challenging four-part harmonies.

A) as they moved through elaborate and challenging four-part harmonies
B) as they were moving through elaborate and challenging four-part harmonies
C) moving themselves through elaborate and challenging four-part harmonies
D) as it moved through elaborate and challenging four-part harmonies
E) as it moved through challenging four-part harmonies elaborately

I marked A as correct but D is given as correct. Can someone explain to me why that is ? For example if choir marks a group of individual people , when will the verb be in singular and when in plural form ?

Give me some examples for collective nouns like the police as well ,if possible.

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Jul 28, 2014 3:53 am

AnuragRatna: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 37; Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2014 2:39 am; Location: Bangalore

by AnuragRatna » Mon Jul 28, 2014 4:49 am

I will try to explain.
You can split the options in 3:2(three options of they & themselves and rest two are of it).
Now think whether the clause after ',' will be plural or singular.The choir is singular.
so you can eliminate A,B,C straight forward.
Now between D & E, option D properly place the adjectives instead of adverb.
Hope this explanation helps you.

sapuna: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 67; Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:04 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 3 times

by sapuna » Mon Jul 28, 2014 6:39 am

You didn`t understand my question. I was aware that the correct answer is mine or the one that was given as correct. My question was when should collective nouns ( choir , police etc) be used with a verb in singular form and when in plural form ?

theCodeToGMAT: Legendary Member; Posts: 1556; Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:18 pmFollowed by: 34 members; Thanked: 448 times; GMAT Score:650

by theCodeToGMAT » Mon Jul 28, 2014 8:34 pm

Choir --> group of people; SINGULAR.. Similar Examples: Army, crowd

Example:
Crowd is gathered near the Central Park area to watch the concert.

Army is always alert from the terror attacks

R A H U L

sapuna: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 67; Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:04 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 3 times

by sapuna » Wed Jul 30, 2014 12:12 am

Hmm , I see. I`ve heard countless times on the news reporters say "the police are investigating..". This one is incorrect then , yes ? In the GMAT collective nouns should never be used with a verb in plural or is there such a case ?

Last edited by sapuna on Wed Jul 30, 2014 2:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

theCodeToGMAT: Legendary Member; Posts: 1556; Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:18 pmFollowed by: 34 members; Thanked: 448 times; GMAT Score:650

by theCodeToGMAT » Wed Jul 30, 2014 1:59 am

sapuna wrote:Hmm , I see. I`ve heart countless times on the news reporters say "the police are investigating..". This one is incorrect then , yes ? In the GMAT collective nouns should never be used with a verb in plural or is there such a case ?

The news reporters must have used "policemen" and not "police".. Collective Nouns are always singular.

R A H U L

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