Difference between aggregate and collective nouns

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Grammarian-bot

#255673 Mon, 14 Aug 06 09:06 AM

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According to the above mentioned website, Police is an aggregate noun.

The police are still looking for the Olympic Park bomber.

If it is so, then why army is always considered as a collective noun. What is the main difference between the two?

GB

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Joined on Sun, May 7 2006

PAKISTAN

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Plurals, Difference Between, Nouns

Inchoateknowledge

#255679 Mon, 14 Aug 06 10:07 AM

Police is a plural noun, can not have singular verb attached to it, thus not collective noun; army is a singular countable one.
There is no reason for why it is so.
BTW, I could not download the link.

Inchoateknowledge

Joined on Wed, May 3 2006

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Grammarian-bot

#255975 Tue, 15 Aug 06 06:58 AM

Inchoateknowledge wrote:
Police is a plural noun, can not have singular verb attached to it, thus not collective noun; army is a singular countable one.
There is no reason for why it is so.
BTW, I could not download the link.

So, it means that there are plural nouns that always take plural verbs. Can you give some other examples of plural nouns.

GB

Grammarian-bot

Verbs, Singular Verbs, Plurals, Difference Between, Nouns

Goodman

#256147 Tue, 15 Aug 06 04:45 PM

Inchoateknowledge wrote:
Police is a plural noun, can not have singular verb attached to it, thus not collective noun; army is a singular countable one.
There is no reason for why it is so.
BTW, I could not download the link.

I tend to disagree. Police is mostly considered and used as a singular collective noun unless it’s a situation where more than one police department is involved.

We can answer questions and don’t mind doing so. However, learners may not retain the answers by memorization. Reading is the better method.

Goodman

Joined on Mon, Nov 7 2005

Calif. USA

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Verbs, Singular Verbs, Plurals, Difference Between, Nouns

Grammar Geek

#256149 Tue, 15 Aug 06 04:56 PM

I'm sorry, Goodman, but police takes the plural. The police force takes a singular, but you would never say "Police is questioning the suspect" or "The police is looking for clues to the crime."

You could say "A policeman is" or "The police force is" or "A member of the police" but not just "Police is."

I've never thought before why we think of the police as a bunch of individuals who therefore take the plural, but the army is usually taken as a singular unit. I'm sorry that I don't have a better answer as to why.

Grammar Geek

Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006

Pennsylvania, USA

Veteran Member (16,068)

Barbara, who answers in American English.

Plurals, Difference Between

Goodman

#256166 Tue, 15 Aug 06 05:41 PM

GG,

Don't mean to disappoint your arguement. To affirm my own learning, I checked and found these:

Patrol Police is Set to Enhance the Security in Cyberjaya ... The Patrol Police adheres to the security standards of a Cybercity, whereby it takes a maximum ...

No doubt the Police has done more than enough to earn the scorn and ill-will of ... It’s best known legend, The Police is your Friend (spelt enemy) has

The Dutch police consists of 25 regional police forces and the National Police ... Each of the Netherlands' 25 police regions is headed by a regional police ...

Goodman

Difference Between

Feathers

#256168 Tue, 15 Aug 06 05:45 PM

Grammarian-bot wrote:
Inchoateknowledge wrote:
Police is a plural noun, can not have singular verb attached to it, thus not collective noun; army is a singular countable one.
There is no reason for why it is so.
BTW, I could not download the link.

So, it means that there are plural nouns that always take plural verbs. Can you give some other examples of plural nouns?

I had no idea, so I checked my grammar book.

cattle, clergy, people, police, poultry, ...

the New York Yankees, the Utah Jazz, ...

Feathers

Joined on Thu, Jul 6 2006

Full Member (226)

Grammar, Verbs, Singular Verbs, Plurals, Difference Between, Nouns

Grammar Geek

#256186 Tue, 15 Aug 06 06:28 PM

I so often forget to include the caveat "in American English." I know the Brits have a different approach to some collective nouns (country, company, etc.) so it should be so with "police" as well. In American English, police is plural. Google results showed singular police used in other countries, and a great many hits for the musical group.