Collective nouns

Question

Dear CrackVerbal Team,

Could you please explain me the SV agreement of collective noun for both Singular Verb and Plural Verb scenario.

Thanks,
Avijit

globaldesi · Answer

AvijitSarkar12 
Can you give some examples when you say " collective noun for Singular Verb".
A sentence for such scenario will help

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Collective nouns are words that imply a group of nouns. They are considered as a singular unit and therefore take a singular verb. Some examples of collective nouns are herd, family, class, government, audience, etc.

Look at the following examples:
A  herd  of cattle  are  grazing in the meadow --> this is incorrect. 
A  herd  of cattle  is  grazing in the meadow --> this is correct.

Some more examples: 
This  family   has  a long tradition of illness 
The  crew   is  preparing to land the plane

Hope this helps!

J2S2019 · Answer

Is there any exceptions on this?
i heard somewhere that when members of a group are not performing similar actions then a collective noun can take plural verb?
is that correct?

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

That’s right.  There are exceptions.  
A classic case that comes to mind is this example: The staff  are  having sandwiches for lunch. 
Although ‘staff’ is a collective noun, in this case, it is used as a plural noun to refer to the individual members that make up the group.

Another classic example: The committee  were  divided in their opinion.

Karishma999 · Answer

Interesting very much helpful.

Collective nouns

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards