In Singular verbs^x, Nouns^x

Tanit wrote: Hi, good question! I was wandering whether a slightly different point of view exists as for the subject of the sentence: He is one that knows the solution to the problem. or He is one of the few that know the solution to the problem. After some...

Zj.frank wrote:Dear all: He is one of the few that knows the solution to the problem. or He is one of the few that know the solution to the problem. Do the two "that"s denote different things? Shall we say that the first "that" denotes "he" while the second "that" denotes "the few"? If...

Collective nouns can be seen as notionally singular or plural, depending on whether one focusses on the group as a unit, or on the individual members. Americans are more likely to see "collective" nouns as single groups, and therefore use singular verbs, and British people are more likely to use...

Well, I'm confused to some extent now, I must confess. I used to think collective nouns took a singular verb. I've just made a search and read that collective nouns may take either a plural or a singular verb. In a while I found a post of Mister Micawber where he said that both are possible in...

Vincent Teo wrote: Can I say, All colletive nouns take singular / plural verb ? Either singular or plural verb can be used. If you view them as a group, use the singular verb. On the other hand, if you view them as cows/birds, use the plural verb. a) A herd of cows is grazing....

All collective nouns take a singular verb.

Kooyeen wrote:Ha! I'm really curious to see how the other members are going to answer that one. I thought "are" was the only option in those kinds of sentences, but I once asked here about something similar, and I was told that both plural and singular verbs are likely to be used. In other...

Hi,I can't find them... Oh, here's my glasses.I can't find them... Oh, there's my glasses.I can't find them... Where's my glasses?Are those idiomatic? There's a singular verb, contracted. I've already heard of that feature, but only with "here" and "existential there", and the "there" in my...

Sooris wrote:I thought these collective nouns will take singular verbs. " A herd (of x) is .. A group ( is ...) etc except when you are referring to the individual animals of the group.If a group of words, especially a partative group, conveys the idea of plurality, a number of individuals, the...

I thought these collective nouns will take singular verbs. " A herd (of x) is .. A group ( is ...) etc except when you are referring to the individual animals of the group.