III Collective Noun; Subject-Verb Agreement

Groups of people - army, audience, band, choir, class, committee, crew, family, kin, gang, jury, orchestra, police, staff, team, trio, tribe;

Groups of animals – colony (frogs, seals, gulls), flock (birds, sheep), herd (cattle (cows, goat, bulls, antelopes)), pack (dogs, wolves), pod = school / shoal (fish), pride (lions), swarm (in­sects (bees, flies, mosquitoes));

Groups of things – batch, bunch (bananas, flowers, keys), bundle (sticks, dirty laundry), clump (dough, soil, cells, trees, bushes), navy/fleet (ships), pair, pile (dishes, toys, papers, clothes), range (hills), set (tools, pans, pots), stack (books).

* When such a group is considered as a single unit, the collective noun is used with a singular verb and singular pronouns.

E.g. The committee has reached its decision. = All as one.

When the focus is on the individual members of the group, British English uses a plural verb and plural pronouns.

E.g. The committee have been arguing all morning. = The people in the committee have been arguing all morning.

* SMILE: Кенгуру скачуть натовпами (a mob of kangaroos), a гепарди бігають лише в коаліціях (a coalition of cheetahs). Лосі ходять бандами (a gang of elks), зебри бігають когортами (Cohort of Zebras), а вовки ходять пачками (a pack of wolves). Дикі бджоли літають велосипедами (a bike of bees), а ігуани повзають безладами (a mess of iguanas). Ворони літають вбивствами (a murder of crows), жаби стрибають вузлами (a knot of toads), а кити зі скумбрією плавають школами (a school of whales / cod). Але найповажніші сови: вони літають парламентами! (a parliament of owls)

Exercise 24. Insert the appropriate collective noun.

suite	army	team	litter	school
galaxy	congregation	herd	pack	mob
audience	bevy	staff	crew	flock
flock	team	pack	gang	cabinet
cluster / branch	bunch / bouquet	galaxy / constellation	gathering / crowd	band / pack / gang
pack	colony	brood	pack	fleet

1. a ___ of people in church.

2. a ___ of people in a public square.

3. an ___ at a concert.

4. a ___of sheep.

5. a ___ of cows, deer, goats, etc.

6. a ___of stars.

7. a ___ of wolves.

8. a ___ of thieves.

9. a ___of geese in a field.

10. a ___ of playing-cards.

11. a ___ of rioters.

12. a ___ of flowers.

13. a ___ of beautiful girls.

14. a ___ of sailors in a ship.

15. the ___ of a hospital, school, business, etc.

16. a ___ of ships.

17. a ___ of grapes or flowers.

18. a ___ of oxen for ploughing.

19. a ___ of young chickens.

20. a ___of whales.

21. a ___ of Ministers.

22. a ___of puppies.

23. a ___of settlers.

24. a ___ of footballers.

25. a ___ of lies.

26. an ___ of soldiers.

27. a ___ of hounds for hunting.

28. a ___ of talented actresses.

29. a ___ of robbers.

30. a ___of rooms.

Exercise 25. Comment on the nouns in bold type.

1. According to modern standards my family isn't big. 2. The family regard her marriage to him as a betrayal. 3. The council is making a great effort to provide cheap housing and more public facilities. 4. The council have been arguing all the morning. 5. The jury agrees that the state prosecutors did not provide enough evidence, so its verdict is not guilty. 6. The jury disagree about the guilt of the accused and have told the judge that they are hopelessly deadlocked. 7. Today Dr. Ribley's class takes its first 100-item exam. 8. After the long exam, the class start the research papers on famous mathematicians. 9. When the team isn't winning everyone starts slagging them off. 10. The team have trained hard and they deserve to do well.

Exercise 26. Choose the correct form.

1. A herd of cattle (stand / stands) near the gate. 2. The crew (is / are) at work on the bridge. 3. A school of fish (was / were) beside the boat. 4. The team (was putting / were putting) on their shirts. 5. The crowd angry with the leader (is / are) on their feet. 6. Katherine’s family (is / are) going away on Saturday. 7. The gang of bandits often (rush / rushes) down upon the settlers. 8. The new class (was / were) in its place. 9. The group of youngsters (shout / shouts) at each newcomer. 10. The company (is raising / are raising) the requirements for applicants. 11. A committee from the state department (was meeting / were meeting) with us. 12. Wait! The choir (is singing / are singing) the last hymn. 13. The audience (was enthusiastic / were enthusiastic) and responded warmly. 14. (Does / Do) your team of boys plan to participate in this race? 15. The flock (fly / flies) high over these marshes. 16. The band from Lee High School (is / are) one of the best. 17. The swarm (settle / settles) on the limbs of nearby trees.

Exercise 27. Use the singular or plural, as required.

1. The Government (has / have) fallen and a general election will soon be held. 2. A brood of little chicks (was / were) sheltering under its / their mother's wings. 3. The whole gang (was / were) arrested. 4. The farmer's prize herd (was / were) sold for a good price. 5. The herd had escaped and (was / were) wandering about in the fields and lanes. 6. The team (is / are) trying on the new boots. 7. The staff (was / were) quarrelling about what was to be done. 8. The great orator rose to speak and the crowd (was / were) silent. 9. The crowd (was / were) jeering, cheering, shouting and singing. 10. A number of suspicious people (has / have) been arrested. 11. This class (is / are) the best in the school. 12. The Government (was / were) debating the choice of a new minister. 13. The congregation (was / were) saying their prayers. 14. A lot of people (has / have) had influenza this autumn. 15. The pack of cards (was / were) lying all over the floor. 16. A cluster of people (was / were) eagerly chatting to one another. 17. The gang of scoundrels (was / were) attacking three well-dressed travellers. 18. When the audience (has / have) settled (itself / themselves) in (its / their) (chair / chairs), the play will begin. 19. He kept the class in because (it / they) had been playing tricks during the lesson. 20. A bunch of flowers (was / were) offered to the visitor.

Exercise 28. Put these words into the table based on the group of things they usually refer to.

batch • huddle • heap / pile • company • stack • team • litter• swarm • flock • bundle • herd • throng • gang • crowd • bunch • set • pack • staff • group • crew • cast • shoal / school • colony • suite • kin • clump • tribe • set •

People in general	People working together	Animals	Objects

Exercise 29. Complete the sentences using one of the words from the above task (in some cases more than variant is possible).

1. After the election, the huge ___ danced in the street. 2. The refugees sat in a small, tight ___ underneath some trees. 3. The first prize was a ___ of cheap saucepans. 4 The school is closed because the ___ are on strike. 5. The theatre ___ benefited from a government grant. 6. Following an outbreak of BSE, a ___ of cows has been destroyed. 7. The company processed a ___ of orders. 8. A ___ of football fans wandered around the street breaking shop windows. 9. Half the ___of the film were nominated for Oscars. 10. They threw the weapons in a ___ on the ground. 11. A small ___ of people petitioned the Prime Minister outside his house. 12. The ___ of fish that had been caught were deemed inedible owing to pollution in the water. 13. We were all surprised when our dog gave birth to a ___ of puppies. 14. Cabin ___ on aircraft are drilled in safety procedure. 15. As winter approaches, the ___ of geese fly south to warmer climes. 16. Half the football ___ were sent off in disgrace. 17. The stars had difficulty making their way through the ___ of people outside the cinema. 18. A ___ of soldiers from the Third Infantry have been charged with human rights abuses. 19. The immigrant arrived clutching nothing but a ___ of personal possessions. 20. A ___ of flowers is always an acceptable gift if you visit someone. 21. We were unable to open the door because a ___ of boxes was blocking it. 22. The women fell on the surprised burglar like a ___ of wild dogs. 23. The harvest was destroyed by a huge ___ of insects.

Exercise 30. Translate the sentences into English (focus on subject-verb agreement).

a)

1. Їдучи по дорозі додому, вони помітили стадо слонів, які стояли вдалині. 2. Дуже моторошно було чути виття зграї вовків. 3. Виглянувши з вікна, вона побачила зграю голодних собак. 4. Зграйка рибок весело плавала у воді, нагрітій весняним сонцем. 5. Завтра прибуде нова партія товару. 6. Зграя птахів зібралася на галявині біля лісу. 7. Рій бджіл був дуже великий і його довелося розділити. 8. Стадо корів переходило дорогу. 9. У кутку кімнати стояла купа стільців. 10. Він купив новий набір інструментів. 11. Сузір’я складається з чотирьох зірок і розташоване праворуч від Полярної зірки.

b)

1. Міжнародний симпозіум розпочав роботу вчора зранку. 2. Група науковців спостерігає за цим стадом китів вже декілька років поспіль. 3. Консиліум лікарів не дійшов спільної думки щодо методів лікування. 4. Комітет двічі збирався для обговорення цього важливого питання, але так і не схвалив жодного рішення. 5. Парафіяни церкви зробили доброчинний внесок на різдвяні подарунки дітям. 6. Молода команда науковців активно розпочала роботу над новим проектом. 7. Рада намагається залучити якомога більше молоді до волонтерства. 8. Команда грає за Іспанію. 9. Цей колектив дуже досвідчений і працьовитий. 10. Команда інтенсивно тренується перед вирішальним матчем і сподівається на хороші результати. 11. Суд складається з шести чоловіків і шести жінок. 12. Колектив збирається купити подарунок своєму колезі, який йде на пенсію. 13. Суд не був одностайним у вирішенні цієї проблеми. 14. А що каже твоя сім’я? Ти поцікавився їх думкою?

Exercise 31. Revise the irregular agreement rules and chose the correct form.

1. The French is / are very friendly people.

2. Dozen / dozens of websites have sprung up to provide information for travelers.

3. Ten minutes is /are not a long period of time. She will wait!

4. The President is sending three hundred / hundreds troops to the area.

5. Twenty thousand / thousands dollars for this car is / are very expensive.

6. This five hour trip was / were very exhausting.

7. The unemployed need / needs jobs, not government handouts!

8. Four hours of sleep is / are not sufficient. You’ll burn yourself out!

9. Two television episodes wasn’t / weren’t enough for her to understand the main idea of the soap opera.

10. Visiting hours is / are from 2 to 5 every day.

11. The survey shows that the disabled have / has rather low standard of living.

12. Japanese is / are a very difficult language.

13. Dozen / dozens of volunteers serve hot meals to 200 homeless people every night.

14. Two hundred and fifty dollars is / are a lot of money just for a new carpet.

15. They paid million / millions in bribes to tax officials in order to avoid investigation.

16. The English is / are accustomed to rainy weather.

17. We have watched hundred / hundreds of small firms collapse over the last few years.

18. Twenty minutes is / are a short time, but I know you’ll manage.

19. His alimony amounts to around two thousand / thousands dollars a month.

20. Three kilos is / are an average weight for a newborn

Exercise 32. Correct the mistakes (where they are).

1. I make three hundreds euros a week. 2. The team is eating with its family tonight. 3. Several hundred foreigners live in this small village. 4. I can't hear you, there's too much noise here. 5. Peter's father bought three dozens eggs from the market. 6. Since we put the advertisement in the paper we've had dozen of phone calls. 7. Hundred of trees are cut down in this forest. 8. Twenty pounds are a lot of money. 9. He had his first several grey hair at thirty. 10. In this exercise you should separate the sheeps from the goats! 11. I'd like to get your advices about this exercise. 12. Five hundred dollars are expensive. Don’t you have anything cheaper? 13. The police is still looking for him. 14. There are several thousands people in the national stadium to watch the soccer final. 15. Five times six equal thirty. 16. 17. During the two World Wars million of people died.

Exercise 33. Insert the proper verb (to be, to have) into the sentences.

1. I think that two thousand dollars ___ quite enough for him. 2. Each region of the country ___ its own independent government. 3. Becky is leaving at the end of the week and some of her office colleagues ___ organising a party for her. 4. None of the girls in the class ___ happy with their new maths teacher. 5. During the meeting each of us ___ got to say how we're going to save money in our department. 6. The hospital staff ___ all very young. 7. The number of people in the country who regularly play tennis ___ fallen substantially in the last ten years. 8. The job in the factory is quite boring, but none of the work ___ difficult. 9. I'm not sure whether any of his films ___ been shown in Britain. 10. The vote revealed that a majority of the members of the board of directors ___ in favour of selling the company. 11. You can't hold a classical concert in the village hall; the acoustics ___ terrible! 12. She came from a large, close-knit, and loving clan who ___ always there to protect and help each other. 13. My brother thinks that economics ___ really interesting I disagree. 14. Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding ___ definitely still the favourite of many British people! 15. As far as I know at present 10.000 kilometres ___ the longest walking competition held in the Olympics. 16. Five hours of sleep ___ not enough for a child. 17. The team ___ no more than seven young men. 18. I used to write programs on my home computer and plenty of my friends who did the same thing now ___ good jobs in the information technology industry. 19. The crew ___ all seasick. 20. A team of soldiers ___ playing against a team of sailors. 21. The audience ___ the biggest we have ever had. 22. The pack ___ running all over the field, trying to find the scent of the fox. 23. The congregation ___ all delighted with the fine sermon. 24.  The team ___ headed to the nationals since winning the state finals. 25. Five years ___ the maximum sentence for that offense.