Question

Verbs - singular or plural

Look at the following two sentences. Which one is correct?

a) The jury were divided in their opinion.
b) The jury was unanimous in their decision.

Jury is a collective noun. Whenever there is a sense of unity, we use singular
verb with collective nouns but when it is used in the sense of separation, we use
plural verb with them, so both are correct in different situations.

Here are some more such words.

If you use plural verbs, you will always be correct, but if you use a singular noun, you may be wrong. So - to be safe - use plural verbs with these nouns.

• Work in pairs. Write five questions using some of the nouns given in B.
  above.

Answer 1

Activity meant for at class level. The five questions are given below :

1. Do you think the staff agree to these proposals ?
2. How are the audience going to react to this price rise ?
3. What have the council decided about the water problem ?
4. How do you think are the public receiving this increase in petrol prices ?
5. How do the crew react to our anchoring in the mid-sea ?