4 ms·
I don't think this has anything to do with grammatical matters like count/mass nouns. It's just that a word for a collective can often be used either to refer t
by fenomas 3y ago
I don't think this has anything to do with grammatical matters like count/mass nouns. It's just that a word for a collective can often be used either to refer to the collective as a whole, or to its individual members.
> Manchester City is a team with a long history.
> Manchester City are lined up on the field.
The count/mass noun issue comes into play when one is counting the thing in question, in which case corporations are clearly count nouns. E.g. you'd refer to several new Facebook-like corporations as "a new crop of Facebooks", not "..of Facebook".
- thom 3y agoPeople nevertheless still say “Manchester City are a team” (and that sounds correct to my UK ear).
- mike-the-mikado 3y agoI suspect that you are younger than me (59) and that you have been influenced by US usage.
- davidmurdoch 3y agoYounger than you and in the US and I don't know anyone who would use "are" here.
- fenomas 3y agoSure, and they sometimes say "Manchester City is lined up on the field." There's no single rule, it's a question of what's emphasized.
- thom 3y agoI don’t think that is at all common in English English.