In the US, I would never say "The government have shut down" or "The team have lost." I would treat them as singular entities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col

In the US, I would never say "The government have shut down" or "The team have lost." I would treat them as singular entities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_noun#Metonymic_merging_of_grammatical_number http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_noun#Metonymic_mergi...