Cover Page of
The Mayfield Handbook of Technical & Scientific Writing
Table of ContentsWriting TimelineIndexHelpCredits

Section 6.8.1.4

Collective Nouns

Collective nouns refer to groups, such as committee (group of people), flock, (group of birds) or herd (group of animals). If the subject of your sentence is a collective noun, you need to pay special attention to subject-verb agreement. Use a singular verb when the collective noun represents the individuals acting as a unit.


Unacceptable

An interagency science committee have been issuing technical recommendations about everything from computer modeling to remote sensing in the Everglades.

Acceptable

An interagency science committee has been issuing technical recommendations about everything from computer modeling to remote sensing in the Everglades.

--Norman Boucher, "Back to the Everglades," Technological Review (modified)


Use a plural verb when the sentence emphasizes that the individuals are acting separately.


Unacceptable

The team congratulates each other whenever they win a competition.

Acceptable

The team congratulate each other whenever they win a competition.


The best solution is to emphasize that you are focusing on individual members of a collective noun by adding the word members:


The team members congratulate each other whenever they win a competition.



## Collective Nouns ##


[ Home | Table of Contents | Writing Timeline | Index | Help | Credits]