Collective nouns are tricky grammatical entities that often cause confusion, especially when it comes to subject-verb agreement. A collective noun is a word that represents a group of individuals or things, such as “team,” “audience,” or “family.” Because they refer to a collection of individuals, collective nouns can be singular or plural, depending on the context.
This brings us to the issue of subject-verb agreement. When a collective noun is used as the subject of a sentence, it can be a singular or plural noun, depending on the context.
For example, if the members of a team are acting as individuals, the team is considered a plural noun. In this case, you would say, “The team are playing well.” However, if the team is acting as a single unit, the team is considered a singular noun. In this case, you would say, “The team is playing well.”
To help students understand this tricky concept, we’ve created a collective nouns and verb agreement worksheet. This worksheet includes a range of collective nouns and asks students to identify whether they are singular or plural. They are then asked to write sentences using the collective nouns as the subject, selecting the correct verb form based on whether the collective noun is singular or plural.
Here are a few sample questions from the worksheet:
1. Is the collective noun “family” singular or plural?
2. Write a sentence using “family” as a singular collective noun.
3. Write a sentence using “family” as a plural collective noun.
4. Is the collective noun “jury” singular or plural?
5. Write a sentence using “jury” as a singular collective noun.
6. Write a sentence using “jury” as a plural collective noun.
This worksheet is a great tool to help students understand the nuances of collective nouns and subject-verb agreement. By practicing with a variety of collective nouns and verb forms, students can improve their writing and communication skills. It’s also a useful resource for copy editors and writers who want to ensure their work is grammatically correct and optimized for SEO. By mastering the use of collective nouns and subject-verb agreement, you can communicate more effectively and present a professional image to your readers.