2006-12-14 04:24:12 · 6 answers · asked by OprahBoy 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
In my example I was paraphrasing an actual headline, the actual wording was "Miami fail to take heat out of Suns streak", http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061214/sp_nm/nba_dc
It doesn't sound right, but I believe it is correct because in this case "Miami" is referring to multiple players on the Miami Heat team.
I see this type of usage in headlines all the time, and it bugs me, but I think it is correct. See "Collective Nouns" in Wikipedia.
2006-12-14 07:15:34 · update #1
They are singular. I think the technical term is "collective singular." Much like you would say "The team fails to Cool Heat," you would correctly say "Miami fails to Cool Heat."
2006-12-14 04:26:47 · answer #1 · answered by AClaire 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Uh, Miami IS the Heat. Assuming that you meant, say Detroit, the rule is that the city name is singular, but the team is plural. Hence, "Detroit Fails to cool Heat," but "Pistons Fail to Cool Heat."
2006-12-14 13:03:38 · answer #2 · answered by Timothy S 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
AClaire is right.
In this instance the word "Miami" is a collective singular noun and therefore it should read "fail".
It would only become "fails" if you had a plural collective noun, if you had more than one Miami team.
2006-12-14 12:56:15 · answer #3 · answered by the_lipsiot 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its fails because a team is a group of people
2006-12-14 12:26:22 · answer #4 · answered by shortmeanstar 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
fails
2006-12-14 12:43:39 · answer #5 · answered by Me2 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
fails
2006-12-14 12:29:07 · answer #6 · answered by crazeebitch2005 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋