Domain: learnenglish.org.uk
Stories and comments across the archive that link to learnenglish.org.uk.
Comments · 12
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Re:Grammar correction: team is idiots.
I'm probably responding to a troll, but take a gander at this.
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Re:FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
just FYI, this has nothing to do with any change in words.
Look up the word analyze - the dictionary says: [Perhaps from French analyser, from analyse, analysis, from Greek analusis. See analysis.]
But the problem with analize is that 'ize' is a suffix that can be added to many adjectives to form verbs that mean 'to cause', 'to become'. So 'digitize' means to make it digital, 'analize' then means to make it anal. -
Not necessarily
I'm sure someone will correct me if this is not the case, but I believe in the Queen's English (as opposed to American English), organizations are often represented in the plural because they are a group of people. You will read a US headline that says "Manchester United is likely to sell to Glazer", but in the UK, it can be "Manchester United are likely to sell to Glazer". Check out this site. Given the English source for the story, this makes sense.
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It's just regional variation
Dell is a company, and as such, is a SINGULAR NOUN. Usage rules dictate that singular nouns are incompatible with plural verbs. Would you say "My mom are going to the store?" Of course not. Why, then, would you say "Dell are now shipping" ?
Learn some fucking English, people.
Learn to accept different regional usages. Where I come from, saying 'Dell are' is standard usage: 'Dell' is a collective noun and can be treated as a plural. -
Re:English lesson: Blizzard is a single entity
Blizzard is a single entity, and ought to be treated as such in standard American English.
That might be true for American English, but don't try and foist your Yank oddities onto somebody who is actually English. American English differs from proper English in a number of ways, this being one of them.
You sound like a redneck hick.
You sound like an ignorant American.
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Re:geezI speak too soon
:)It appears here is a nice page which shows all the differences between American and British use of collective nouns. It seems that is okay to pluralise as long as it is applied consistently within the sentence. Now, I don't have to fear my use of it so much (and I was worried too - I already have enough problems with colloquialisms sliding into my written work).
This is why I love
/. Thread derailments that are as informative as the main topic :) -
Re:OP is perfectly correct.
According to this, it depends upon the context. If the collective noun is being referred to as a single entity then the verb is singular.
If it being referred to as its component parts, then the plural form of the verb is used.
My family is large.
My family are always fighting.
It does mention that in Limese(the British version of Yankese) that the singular/plural distinction for collective nouns is less important.
It's incorrect in Yankese, probably because your legal system pretends that companies are people.
I don't think that's the reason why it's incorrect over here. It's probably because it's only one company, not two or more company.
How does British English deal with the following:
swarm, pride, herd, flock, crash, murder or rhumba. The animal groups for the following: bees, lions, cows, sheep, rhinoceri, crows, and rattlesnakes.
Hint: they aren't, they're just a group of human beings and a bunch of legal documents.
You forgot to mention management. They don't fit into the definition of either of the components you mentioned. -
Re:Grammar nazi
When dealing with an entity made up of individuals and referring to the members of the group (as I believe he is referring to the individuals), it is indeed correct to use the plural. See http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/grammar/archive/co
l lective_nouns.html -
Re:More speculation about gmail
Here's everything you wanted to know about collective nouns, and plenty you didn't.
Neither British or American English is entirely consistent, IMHO. Although I've always found it revealing that Americans generally consider groups (like corporations) to be a thing and Brits consider them to be a collection of people. But maybe that's reading too much into it.
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Re:Government doing the right thing for once...Guess what? Both are correct in British English. At least, I've heard both, and others seem to agree.
See how I did that without the ad hom attack? Now play nicely.
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Re:Adjective?
How about 'google search.'
It's a noun there, actually, in the same way the word "Web" in "Web browser" is a noun. Welcome to English compound nouns. ... in that contect, google is an adjective modifying the word 'search.' -
Re:American Grammar Gestapo
Chalk it up to a difference in usage of collective nouns.