Collective Nouns- Subject/verb agreement + pronoun agreement By: Alexa.H & Fiza.A ;

Collective nouns You might not know it, but you encounter nouns in everyday speech. Collective nouns are words for single things that are made up of more than one person, animal, place, thing, or idea. Once you’ve read these examples, you’ll find it much easier to recognize collective nouns when you see them.

Examples: A herd of bison ran across the prairie. A flock of birds flew south. You can’t have a team without individual members; even so, we discuss a team as a single entity. Our class took a field trip to the Natural History Museum. We waited anxiously for the jury to come to a verdict.

Subject/verb Agreement with Collective nouns Does a singular collective noun take a singular or plural verb. Well, it depends. If the collective noun refers to the group as a unit, then it takes a singular verb. If it refers to the individuals in the group or the parts that make up the group, then the verb should be plural. In the following sentences, decide whether the collective noun requires the singular or plural verb.

Examples: Correct: The team is heading for practice this afternoon. -If the sentence indicates more individually, use a plural verb. Incorrect: The team are eating with their families tonight. -Would you choose is or are in the example below? -People is NOT a collective noun like team or staff. It is a plural noun. However, the subject is one, which is singular and takes a singular verb. So the answer is is. Twelve percent of the building has been renovated. -The subject is twelve percent, which will be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition that follows. In this sentence, the object of the preposition is building, which is always singular. So the correct answer is has.

Pronoun agreement with Collective nouns A noun that refers to a group (people, things, place, etc.) general rule for pronoun agreement is straightforward: A singular antecedent requires a singular pronoun; a plural antecedent requires a plural pronoun. Use a singular pronoun in place of a collective noun that refers to a group as a unit. Use a plural pronoun when the collective noun refers to the individuals in the group.

himself, herself, itself How to recognize pronoun agreement with collective nouns when you see it. Whenever you use a personal pronoun like she, it, or they you first have to have a antecedent, the word that the pronoun is replacing. Read this sentence: The team is very young. ____ are all between 18 and 20 years old. The word They would go on that blank space because the sentence is talking about a group of people such as team which is a collective noun and They is part of pronoun agreement. The team is very young. They are all between 18 and 20 years old. The pronoun must agree with its antecedent. To navigate this agreement successfully you will need to follow these singular and plural pronoun list. Singular Plural he, she, it him, her, it his, her, hers, its himself, herself, itself they them their, theirs themselves