The word population is a collective noun that can take a singular or plural verb, depending on the intention of the author. The noun people is plural. Therefore, are correct in your second sentence. The key word in your penultimate sentence is “prefer.” You may want to read our latest blog on the subject: Rules and Preferences. Jane said: 8 November 2013 at 9:10 p.m. The pronoun that refers only to people, but it is a myth that cannot relate to both people and things. This has been the case for centuries. The King James version of the Bible, for example, refers to “he who is sinless.” I respectfully disagree with your use of the plural verb when you talk about “team or employee.” I recently heard that a national television reporter uses a plural verb to talk about a married COUPLE — she used it twice. This led me to study it because it is contrary to what I learned in public school (1937 to 1950). I realize that language is evolving, but I will continue to use the singular verb with all collective nouns and when I hear something else, it will continue to rub my nerves. Aren`t collective nouns plural if they are made up of more than one of the same things? It is easy to make the mistake of thinking that collective nouns are plural; However, these words are designed to represent a single unit of more than one of the same things.
Whether you write “The 80s are or are coming back” or “The 80s were or were back” depends on whether you consider the decade as a single unit of time or whether you take into account trends or events that have occurred in certain years. If you are considered a single unit of time, you can write “The Decade of the 80s Returns” or “The Decade of the 80s Returns” to remove any doubt. It is grammatically difficult for us to imagine the plural expression of the 80s as a singular collective noun. A collective name is a word or phrase that represents a group of people or things, but is treated as a singular entity (hint: a “collection” of people or things). Although you can count the individual members of the group, you usually think of individuals as a group, a whole, or a unit. Do you use a verb in the singular or plural to correspond to a collective noun such as team or employee? The answer is: it depends. If these nouns act as a unit, use a verb in the singular. When members of a collective noun perform an action as individuals, use a plural verb.
In this case, all or some members of the group do something independently of the other members; the group does not act together as a unit. We understand why certain words can rub against our nerves or ears when they are different from what we have learned and used over the years. The Chicago Manual of Style advises: “A mass name (sometimes called an uncounted name) is one that designates something uncountable, either because it is abstract {cowardice} {proof} or because it refers to an indefinite aggregation of persons or things {the faculty} {the bourgeoisie}; the latter type is also known as a collective name. As the subject of a sentence, a mass noun usually assumes a singular verb {the legal dispute is diverse}. But in a collective sense, it can take a singular or plural verbal form {the ruling majority is unlikely to share power} {the majority are non-members}. A singular verb emphasizes the group; a plural verb emphasizes individual members. In our opinion, common sense tells us that if the subject is one, a singular verb should be used. As we explained in our blog Rules and Preferences, “We are all entitled to our preferences – even our prejudices – but declaring them rules that everyone must live by crosses a line.” Since team is a singular noun, the sentence as it was written creates an unpleasant problem. Perhaps the best way to avoid this problem is to paraphrase the phrase: the licensed, certified, and multidisciplinary professionals on our team work together. I also find the use of the plural form with collective nouns problematic. One of the examples given (the team was satisfied with their presentations) raises the question by using “you” as a prepositional pronoun.
If “team” is taken in the singular, then the correct pronoun would be “it” and “The team was satisfied with their presentations”. This seems perfectly acceptable to me, although the prepositional noun “presentations” is plural. This seems to contradict the alleged principle that the case is based on the plurality of the prepositional or non-prepositional noun phrase. The theme of this sentence is one percent. .
