Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[puzzle]

Dear teachers,
Could you tell me how to decide when the verbs should use plural forms or the single forms when the subjects are collective nouns as in the following sentences? Thank you very much!
1. This class _____ very bright especially in science subjects.
2. The government ____ having an important meeting when I got there.
3. The government ____ planning further cuts in income tax.
4. It was late, but the audience ____ still entering the hall.(The answer given is "was", and I think it very confusing.)
5. The public ____ very excited now that the cocert hall is finished.
Thanks!

[pugachevV]

The rule is...
When the subject is singular, as in all your sentences, the verb must be singular too.
Although the nouns, class, government, audience, public, refer to many people, they are grammatically singular and so must be followed by a singular form of the verb.
They are called "collective nouns" i.e. a count noun that denotes a group of individuals.

N.B. The above rule is being relaxed nowadays, as it was, apparently, a bit too difficult for the present day UK teaching establishment to get across to their pupils, so you will often read and hear, "the audience were, the class were, the public were."

You may write what you wish, but the only correct way,in formal writing, is to stick to the rule.