On grammar - are the words team, government and group for example plural or singular?

Question

addendum to above - I feel that some words are intrinsically singular in concept - eg Sainsburys or the Green Bay Packers or England or Manchester United - take for example 'Paramount pictures presents' - looks plural but is a 'company' ie a singular concept - sorry if this question seems a little 'anoraky' - opinions please

Answer 1

There are differences between British English and American English. The English commonly refer to a group of people or things as plural. Americans commonly refer to a group as singular.

For example: Arsenal are my favorite side in the Premiership. My favorite football team is the Chicago Bears.

Don't Panic - To clarify I am American, my in-laws are Irish (from Ireland). I hear groups used as plural all the time. My father-in-law is from County Kerry and is a big fan of Kerry Football. He often says things like "Kerry are going to beat Mayo in the All-Ireland". My Chicago Bears example was perhaps a poor one. Should we use the singular because it is a team? Should we use plural because it is the BearS? (emphasis added)

A few weeks ago there was a question here about the correct usage with the word "staff", as in a group of employees. I hold that an American would say "the staff is helpful" and that a Brit would say "the staff are helpful". Each usage would be correct in the respective country.

Your mileage may vary.

Peace

Answer 2

Adoptive Father -- I'm sure it would be the same in Am English as well, i.e. 'the Chicago Bears are my favorite team'. Would it be my favourite side is Portugal' or '... are Portugal'?

I'm expat U.S., living in the UK. I haven't noticed any differences in plural/singular like that.

** Yeah, Irish does have some different uses, at least from what I've heard. Probably some of the English dialects, although nothing comes to mind. No one has ever wound me up about plural/singular irregularities -- I'm in Scotland, I hear about EVERY variant that comes out of my mouth.

'Bears are' is what I grew up with. Although that was in a place where I would have NEVER been rooting for Chicago. ;-) Thanks for filling in your info.

Answer 3

I think they are singular and can be made plural. For example:

There are 6 teams competing today for the trophy.

The governments of Sub Saharan Africa aren't doing nearly enough in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

You must choose one of two groups to be a part of in high school - the cool kids or the others!

Answer 4

They are all singular. It is grammatically correct to say that the the team is winning, the government has passed a law and the group sings.

Many people get confused because they imagine lots of people when they say words like this.

Answer 5

They are singular. While they represent things that are made up of many parts, or individuals, they each represent one of that thing. And each would be pluralized with an 's' - teams, governments, groups.

Answer 6

Although they are words for a group of things, they are singular, and you can have plurals of them e.g. Governments, teams, groups... .

Answer 7

It is a bit tricky because there are two possibilities.

Imagine the following sentence:
The American government is clowns!
Doesn’t work, you see!

It is either:
The American government is ridiculous and incredible
or
The American government are clowns

Likewise:
The Team is good, but
the team are under the shower right now.

or: the police is an old institution, but
the police have arrived at the scene of the accident

You are welcome

Answer 8

The words you list are grammatically singular. They are called "collective nouns", and are treated as a single unit.