Page 99 - Yellow Feather Book 2

club
company
government
family
jury
team
army
group
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ColleCTive nouns
• Some nouns which name groups can be either singular or plural, depending upon their meaning in individual sentences.
Some examples of collective nouns are:
Because they can describe either the group as a SINGLE ENTITY (only one – singular) or the INDIVIDUALS in the group (more than one – plural), these nouns pose special problems as antecedents.
However, the following guidelines can help us decide which referent pronoun agrees with such noun antecedents.
First, if we refer to the group as a whole, and therefore, as a single unit, we consider the noun as a singular. In this case, we use a singular referent pronoun.
When two or more singular noun antecedents are joined by and, they make a PLURAL antecedent.
Example:
Singular Singular antecedent referent
The class is having its Christmas party today.
On the other hand, if we are actually referring to the individuals with the group,
then we consider the noun plural. In this case, we use a plural referent pronoun. Example:
Plural Plural antecedent referent
The class is having their Christmas party today.
The Yellow Feather Literature Third Course