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Awence Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Agreement for collective noun

0The bunch of flowers (has, have) faded although i put (it, them) in water the moment (it, they) were cut. 02br
02br
00We have complained to the Health Department about it but so far (it, they ) (hasn't haven't) done anything about it. 02br
02br
00The management (does, do) (its, their) best to help the workers.02br
02br
00In my opinion, i will use plural for number 1, singular for number 2, and singular for number 3. Though understanding that agreement for collective noun as such should be assessed by looking at the context of the subject, i m still confused, especially on how to explain them to my students. Could somebody teach me how to determine the answers for the above questions. Thank you. 0-
  

Top answer

0The 01font 00bunch02font 00 of flowers (01font 00has,02font 00 have) faded although i put (it, 01font 00them02font 00) in water the moment (it, 01font 00they)02font 00 were cut. 02br 02br 00We have complained to the Health 01font 00Departmen02font 00t about it but so far (01font 00it02font 00, they ) 01font 00(hasn't02font 00 haven't) done anything about it. 0-

— Susankay

  • 0The 01font 00bunch02font 00 of flowers (01font 00has,02font 00 have) faded although i put (it, 01font 00them02font 00) in water the moment (it, 01font 00they)02font 00 were cut.
  • 02br 02br 00We have complained to the Health 01font 00Departmen02font 00t about it but so far (01font 00it02font 00, they ) 01font 00(hasn't02font 00 haven't) done anything about it.
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4 Answers
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0The 01font00bunch02font00 of flowers (01font00has,02font00 have) faded although i put (it, 01font00them02font00) in water the moment (it, 01font00they)02font00 were cut. 02br
02br
00We have complai
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1blockquote
01cite10Susankay12cite10The 11font10bunch12font10 of flowers (11font10has,12font10 have) faded although i put (it, 11font10them12font10) in water the moment (it, 11font10they)12f
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0I would say 'they" for the Health Department. It's very, very common to refer to unspecified officials as "they."02br
02br
00"They oughta pass a law" "When are 'they' going to do something about that?" 0-
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0In #1, I would agree with SK (has, them, they); and in #2, with GG (they, haven't).02br
02br
00In #3, I would use the singular if the sentence was a statement 01i00by02i00 the management, and the plural where e.g. an obsequious employee was talking 01i00about02i00 the management.02br
02br
00MrP0-
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