3 ms·
This is oft-repeated, but not actually true. Most people in the UK who care about these things (for instance, sub editors in the printed press) hold that compan
by mpclark 13y ago
This is oft-repeated, but not actually true. Most people in the UK who care about these things (for instance, sub editors in the printed press) hold that companies are singular entities. The confusion comes with sports teams, which are commonly referred to in the plural, so "Microsoft is" but "Manchester United are".
Edit: For example, here's what the Guardian's style guide says on the matter:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide/c#id-3022716 http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide/c#id-3022716
Of course, with something as flexible and constantly evolving (and as used and abused) as the English language, it is usually possible to find examples and counter-examples for just about anything. There are also edge cases; the Guardian refers to police forces as plural entities, I believe. Suffice to say, when I was running a back bench, singular was the order of the day when it came to company names.
- diroussel 13y agoI'm British, and I always thing of groups of people as groups of people. But then I never won any awards for grammar.
- mpclark 13y agoAre you trying to say you disagree but you think you're probably wrong?
- codeulike 13y agoI'm British ... That should be explanation enough.
- diroussel 13y agoI don't think it's a case of right or wrong. It's a writing style. But for me, when speaking and writing consider companies to be groups of people, and so I use plural. And I think that is common over here in Britain.
- omaranto 13y agoI don't think sub-editors are a compelling example: people in those positions are likely to ignore the language they learned growing up and stick instead to some made up rules they believe are 'more proper'. I have definitely heard British people say 'my bank are' and 'ASDA are'.
- mpclark 13y agoYes, of course you have heard people commit these errors. Others say "haitch" for the lettter 'H' and still others talk about "nu-cu-lar power". We ain't all educated proper, that's for sure. I'm intrigued that you are ready to rule out the contributions of a class of people who manipulate the written word for a living (and debate usage among themselves to the point of distraction!) ASDA? Well, I'd use "Asda" since it is pronounced as a word, not four initials. But the company itself still seems to be struggling for consistency on that...