Editing Collective noun (section)

== Metonymic merging of grammatical number ==
{{Main|Synesis|Plurale tantum}}
{{more citations needed section|date=July 2020}}

Two examples of collective nouns are "team" and "government", which are both words referring to groups of (usually) people. Both "team" and "government" are [[count noun|''countable'' nouns]] (consider: "one team", "two teams", "most teams"; "one government", "two governments", "many governments").

=== Agreement in different forms of English ===
{{Main|American and British English grammatical differences#Subject-verb agreement}}

Confusion often stems from the way that different forms of English handle [[Agreement (linguistics)|agreement]] with collective nouns—specifically, whether or not to use the '''collective singular''': the singular verb form with a collective noun. The [[plural verb]] forms are often used in [[British English]] with the singular forms of these [[count noun|countable nouns]] (e.g., "The team ''have'' finished the project.").{{cn|date=April 2025}} Conversely, in the English language as a whole, singular verb forms can often be used with nouns ending in "-s" that were once considered plural (e.g., "Physics ''is'' my favorite academic subject"). This apparent "number mismatch" is a natural and logical feature of human language, and its mechanism is a subtle [[metonymy|metonymic]] shift in the concepts underlying the words.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

In British English, it is generally accepted that collective nouns can take either singular or plural verb forms depending on the context and the [[metonymy|metonymic]] shift that it implies. For example, "the team ''is'' in the dressing room" (''[[formal agreement]]'') refers to ''the team'' as an ensemble, while "the team ''are'' fighting among themselves" (''[[notional agreement]]'') refers to ''the team'' as individuals. That is also the British English practice with names of countries and cities in sports contexts (e.g., "[[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle]] ''have'' won the competition.").{{cn|date=April 2025}}

In [[American English]], collective nouns almost always take singular verb forms (formal agreement). In cases that a metonymic shift would be revealed nearby, the whole sentence should be recast to avoid the metonymy. (For example, "The team are fighting among themselves" may become "the team ''members'' are fighting among themselves" or simply "the team is infighting".) Collective [[proper noun]]s are usually taken as singular ("[[Apple Inc.|Apple]] is expected to release a new phone this year"), unless the plural is explicit in the proper noun itself, in which case it is taken as plural ("The [[Green Bay Packers]] are scheduled to play the [[Minnesota Vikings]] this weekend"). More explicit examples of collective proper nouns include "[[General Motors]] is once again the world's largest producer of vehicles", and "[[Texas Instruments]] is a large producer of [[electronics]] here", and "[[British Airways]] is an airline company in Europe". Furthermore, "[[American Telephone & Telegraph]] is a [[telecommunications]] company in North America". Such phrases might look plural, but they are not.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

=== 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]]."