Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Marrion]

[1] A group of 150 ex-guards is on its way from southern Switzerland to Rome to re-enact the march of the first Swiss Guard group during the winter of 1505-1506.

[2] A group of monks line up wait to enter the Great Hall of the People at the opening of the World Buddhist Forum in Hangzhou city, capital of eastern Chinas Zhejiang Province on 13 April 2006.

I am confused because I don't know whether "a group of + plural nouns" is used with "plural verbs" or "singular verbs".

so
I want to know which verbs to use "a group of + plural nouns" with, "plural verbs" or "singular verbs".

[Mister Micawber]

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In number one, the group of guards is acting as a single unit, and is thus singular. In the second, the group of monks must line up one by one, so they are plural.

The rule is simple: if it acts as a unit, it is singular-- my family is moving to St. Louis-- and if they act severally or within the group, it is plural-- my family are always fighting over the TV remote control.
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_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

[Marrion]

Thank you, very much.