Editing Collective noun (section)

=== Examples of metonymic shift ===
A good example of such a metonymic shift in the singular-to-plural direction (which exclusively takes place in British English) is the following sentence: "The team have finished the project." In that sentence, the underlying thought is of the individual members of the team working together to finish the project. Their accomplishment is collective, and the emphasis is not on their individual identities, but they are still discrete individuals; the word choice "team have" manages to convey both their collective and discrete identities simultaneously. Collective nouns that have a singular form but take a plural verb form are called '''collective plurals'''. An example of such a metonymic shift in the plural-to-singular direction is the following sentence: "Mathematics is my favorite academic subject". The word "mathematics" may have originally been plural in concept, referring to mathematic endeavors, but metonymic shift (the shift in concept from "the endeavors" to "the whole set of endeavors") produced the usage of "mathematics" as a singular entity taking singular verb forms. (A true [[mass noun|mass-noun]] sense of "mathematics" followed naturally.)

Nominally singular pronouns can be collective nouns taking plural verb forms, according to the same rules that apply to other collective nouns. For example, it is correct usage in both British English and American English usage to say: "None are so fallible as those who are sure they're right." In that case, the plural verb is used because the context for "none" suggests more than one thing or person.<ref>Strunk & White, The Elements of Style (4th ed., 2000), p. 10.</ref> This also applies to the use of an adjective as a collective noun: "The British are coming!"; "The poor will always be with you."

Other examples include:

* "[[Creedence Clearwater Revival]] ''was'' founded in [[El Cerrito, California]]" (but in British English, "Creedence Clearwater Revival ''were'' founded ...")
* "[[Arsenal FC|Arsenal]] ''have'' won the match" (but in American English, "Arsenal ''has'' won the game")
* "[[Nintendo]] ''is'' a [[video game]] company headquartered in Japan".

This does not, however, affect the tense later in the sentence:

* "Cream ''is'' a [[psychedelic rock]] band who ''were'' primarily popular in the 1960s.

Abbreviations provide other "exceptions" in American usage concerning plurals:

* "Runs Batted In" becomes "RBIs". "Smith had 10 RBIs in the last three games."<ref>{{cite book|last=Garner|first=Bryan|title=Garner's Modern American Usage|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford; New York|isbn=978-0-19-538275-4|page=638}}</ref>
* "Revised Statutes Annotated" or RSAs. "The RSAs contain our laws."

When only the name is plural but not the object, place, or person:

* "[[Decompression sickness|The bends]] ''is'' a deadly disease mostly affecting SCUBA divers."
* "''[[Hot Rocks]]'' ''is'' a greatest hits compilation by [[The Rolling Stones]]."