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Subject verb agreement

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by imskpwr » Mon Nov 14, 2011 11:36 am
Please tell the difference bw these two sentences(both are correct):

1. The committee was fighting over some issues.

2. The committee were fighting over some issues.
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by avik.ch » Mon Nov 14, 2011 6:57 pm
imskpwr wrote:Please tell the difference bw these two sentences(both are correct):
Both are not correct.

All collective nouns are singular.

The committee was fighting over some issues. - Correct

The committee were fighting over some issues. - Incorrect.
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by karthikpandian19 » Mon Nov 14, 2011 7:14 pm
Collective nouns are those words that represent numbers of things with singular nouns; familiar examples include group, team, and jury.

So it shld be WAS
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by HSPA » Mon Nov 14, 2011 8:13 pm
the committee were fighting among themselves. {Here we use 'were' when representing each individual person in committee}

the committee has been fighting for human rigts. { committee as group is fighting for a cause 'has'}
First take: 640 (50M, 27V) - RC needs 300% improvement
Second take: coming soon..
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by imskpwr » Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:52 am
How can you guys be so sure that its acting like a "Collective noun" in both cases?

Here,

The committee was/were fighting over some issues. The second part contains ambiguity.

If, "Committee" is fighting with the other committee. In this case it is "Was".

If, "Committee" is fighting among themselves. In this case it is definitely "Were".
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by tuanquang269 » Tue Nov 15, 2011 1:14 pm
Wow, it depends on the meaning issue, right? :D
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by essaysnark » Tue Nov 15, 2011 2:04 pm
Hi all --

Important consideration here: Collective nouns are almost always singular in American English. The use of the plural with a collective noun sounds completely foreign to this American ear! This was discussed some time ago over here and we're pretty sure it still applies -- see the 4th comment in particular (can't say that the GMAT still has not ever used the "collective noun/plural" on an actual problem but it's good to note): https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/sc- ... t3514.html

Also, in the example being discussed in this thread, it should be "amongst" not "among" - and, we can't say for sure that the plural is correct or not in that second one!

We would be willing to bet money that a statement like "The committee were fighting over some issues" would NEVER be found on a GMAT problem. Even doubtful that the modified "The committee were fighting amongst themselves" would show up... but we're no expert. :-)

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by avik.ch » Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:14 am
HSPA wrote:the committee were fighting among themselves. {Here we use 'were' when representing each individual person in committee}
"The committee",as collective noun, is always singular in GMAT !! Have you seen this kind of sentence in OG.
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by imskpwr » Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:25 am
essaysnark wrote:Hi all --

Important consideration here: Collective nouns are almost always singular in American English. The use of the plural with a collective noun sounds completely foreign to this American ear! This was discussed some time ago over here and we're pretty sure it still applies -- see the 4th comment in particular (can't say that the GMAT still has not ever used the "collective noun/plural" on an actual problem but it's good to note): https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/sc- ... t3514.html

Also, in the example being discussed in this thread, it should be "amongst" not "among" - and, we can't say for sure that the plural is correct or not in that second one!

We would be willing to bet money that a statement like "The committee were fighting over some issues" would NEVER be found on a GMAT problem. Even doubtful that the modified "The committee were fighting amongst themselves" would show up... but we're no expert. :-)

EssaySnark
Thanks everyone for their valuable guidance. I have just started working on Manhattan SC(will definitely take OG problems). But need some guidance on this section esp "American English".
Hope if someone can put some more light on "American English". I am usually confused with "American & UK English".
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by HSPA » Wed Nov 16, 2011 7:05 pm
https://www.800score.com/guidec4view1c.html

Hello All,

Here is a guide regarding the same. I learned from it.
Please search for word committee in the above page.
First take: 640 (50M, 27V) - RC needs 300% improvement
Second take: coming soon..
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by essaysnark » Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:55 am
Thanks HSPA!!!

Taking the liberty of copying in from that source here, since the OP seems to have been referencing the same (or a very similar!) source:
https://www.800score.com/guidec4view1c.html wrote: The flock of birds is flying south.

Again, the "flock of birds" is referred to as a singular group - we're not talking about each bird's direction of flight, but the direction of the flock as a whole - thus it requires the singular verb "is," not the plural verb "are."

The team are always fighting amongst themselves.

This is an example of a collective noun that requires a plural verb. You will not see this very often on the GMAT, but it's useful to illustrate the necessity of reading the entire sentence and visualizing what it describes: while 'team' is often used as a singular collective noun, in this case, the sentence describes the fighting that occurs between the individual members of the team. "Team" therefore refers to several individual members, and requires a plural verb, "are," as a result.
(Emphasis added.)

This is only part of the explanation, you may still want to go read that whole section (search for "committee" as HSPA said).

Very useful, thanks again HSPA!

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