1) The police are still looking out for the whereabouts of the fugitive.
2) The mob has gathered outside the ShivSena office.[ please not a mob is always used in a negative connotation while a crowd is a positive word]
3) The team have decided to share the burden among themselves
4) Analogy : a business of ferrets (a ferret is an albino mammal)
5) Analogy : a army/colony/swarm of ants
Note on Collective nouns
A collective noun is one identity given to a group of similiar objects.A group of similair common nouns will make a collective noun.They can take a singular or a plural verb.The verb they take depends on the activity they perform.
If they perform a collective action they would take a singular verb and would be replaced by a singular pronoun.If they perform a split action they would take a plural verb and would be replaced by a plural pronoun.
eg. The crew is in the cabin. [crew is a group of sailors;here the action they perform is collective and hence takes a singular verb]
The crew are searching every nook and cranny of the ship.[here the collective noun is performing a split action and hence the verb it takes is plural]
For more information on the history of collective nouns check this url: http://cafezika.blogspot.com/2010/02/collective-nouns.html
Additional note (a reply to the comments posted): some collective nouns do not work on the above logic.They always take a plural verb.Here are few of them : police,people,public,cattle,audience
Be a budding etymologist,come fall in love with words and the English language
thanks a lot :)
ReplyDeletebut in above example...how police is/are doing split activity ?
ReplyDeleteplease explain the 1st question....
ReplyDeleteplease explain the 1st question...
ReplyDeleteThank u:)
ReplyDeleteexplain the first Q
ReplyDeleteexplain the first 1
ReplyDeleteExplanation to the 1st: Using the given example later.
ReplyDelete"The crew is in the cabin" - They are performing a collective action i.e all the crew members are together in the cabin.
"The crew are searching every nook and cranny of the ship" - They are performing a split action .i.e the crew members are scattered all over/inside the ship searching.
Similarly When you say "The police are still looking out for the whereabouts of the fugitive"
They are performing a split action. The Police People are scattered looking out for the whereabouts.
Can U explain the 3rd one?
ReplyDeleteWhy is it "The team have" & not "The team has", because all of them in the team has agreed. So, it must be a collective action.
Dear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteIn the third example the team is refered to as a collective noun doing a split activity and hence it refers to the common noun team members which has a plural number hence the verb is have and not has.
Hey guys post your comments with your names it would be easy refering to your queries.
ReplyDeleteMa'am you rock
ReplyDeleteIf i get thru CAT,the first person i will thank would be you...
thanks
ReplyDelete