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Random Music Thoughts IV


Mike

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OK, so Kula Shaker is not touring in India...

That's right (and rub it in, why don't you?)

Anyway, I turned to Google, from where I turned to Wikipedia to ease my troubled mind.

Formal and notional agreement

In BrE, collective nouns can take either singular (formal agreement) or plural (notional agreement) verb forms, according to whether the emphasis is, respectively, on the body as a whole or on the individual members; compare a committee was appointed ... with the committee were unable to agree ...[5][6] Compare also Elvis Costello's song, Oliver's Army is here to stay / Oliver's Army are on their way. Some of these nouns, for example staff,[7] actually combine with plural verbs most of the time.

In AmE, collective nouns are usually singular in construction: the committee was unable to agree ... AmE however may use plural pronouns in agreement with collective nouns: the team take their seats, rather than the team takes its seat(s). The rule of thumb is that a group acting as a unit is considered singular and a group of "individuals acting separately" is considered plural.[8] However, such a sentence would most likely be recast as the team members take their seats.

The difference occurs for all nouns of multitude, both general terms such as team and company and proper nouns (for example, where a place name is used to refer to a sports team). For instance,

BrE: The Clash are a well-known band; AmE: The Clash is a well known band.

BrE: Indianapolis are the champions; AmE: Indianapolis is the champion.

Proper nouns which are plural in form take a plural verb in both AmE and BrE; for example, The Beatles are a well-known band; The Colts are the champions.

BrE = British English

AmE = American English

:/ Just you wait, B-F!

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BrE: The Clash are a well-known band; AmE: The Clash is a well known band.

BrE: Indianapolis are the champions; AmE: Indianapolis is the champion.

Proper nouns which are plural in form take a plural verb in both AmE and BrE; for example, The Beatles are a well-known band; The Colts are the champions.

BrE = British English

AmE = American English

:/ Just you wait, B-F!

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