Q3. Have or has?

Question

Hi,Which of the following sentences is correct? 1. The high income group have more than the other two.  2. The high income group has more than the other two. Thank you.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

golrazWhich of the following sentences is correct? 1. The high income group have more than the other two. 2. The high income group has more than the other two.

Both are in use. There is a difference in preference between BrE and AmE, but it also depends on the writer's conception of the 'group' as a single entity or as a number of people.

Elanguest · Answer

1. Correct in British English
2. Correct in American English

Mister Micawber · Answer

Elanguest1. Correct in British English2. Correct in American English

Too prescriptive. Not always. You may presume that ALL Englishmen use #1 if you like, but both are used and accepted in AmE.

Yoong Liat · Answer

I believe in BrE, both versions are correct.

Elanguest · Answer

I'd say in American English it would never be correct to say the group have.

Mister Micawber · Answer

ElanguestI'd say in American English it would never be correct to say the group have.

Funny. I say it all the time. Evidently, you don't get out much.

Elanguest · Answer

A collective noun is a word that designates a group of objects or beings regarded as a whole, such as "flock", "team", or "corporation". Although many languages treat collective nouns as singular, in others they may be interpreted as plural. In http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English, phrases such as the committee are meeting are common (the so-called agreement in sensu "in meaning"; with the meaning of a noun, rather than with its form). The use of this type of construction varies with dialect and level of formality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_number

In British English, it is generally accepted that collective nouns can take either singular or plural verb forms depending on the context and the metonymic shift that it implies. For example, "the team is in the dressing room" (formal agreement) refers to the team as an ensemble, whilst "the team are fighting among themselves" (notional agreement) refers to the team as individuals. This is also British English practice with names of countries and cities in sports contexts; for example, "Germany have won the competition.", "Madrid have lost three consecutive matches.", etc. In http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English, collective nouns almost invariably take singular verb forms (formal agreement). In cases where a metonymic shift would be otherwise revealed nearby, the whole sentence may be recast to avoid the metonymy. (For example, "The team are fighting among themselves" may become "the team membersare fighting among themselves" or simply "The team is fighting.") See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences#Formal_and_notional_agreement.

A good example of such a metonymic shift in the singular-to-plural direction (which, generally speaking, only occurs in British English) is the following sentence: "The team have finished the project." In that sentence, the underlying thought is of the individual members of the team working together to finish the project. Their accomplishment is collective, and the emphasis is not on their individual identities, yet they are at the same time still discrete individuals; the word choice "team have" manages to convey both their collective and discrete identities simultaneously. A good example of such a metonymic shift in the plural-to-singular direction is the following sentence: "Mathematics is my favorite academic subject." The word "mathematics" may have originally been plural in concept, referring to mathematic endeavors, but metonymic shift—that is, the shift in concept from "the endeavors" to "the whole set of endeavors"—produced the usage of "mathematics" as a singular entity taking singular verb forms. (A true http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_noun sense of "mathematics" followed naturally.)

Nominally singular pronouns can be collective nouns taking plural verbs, according to the same rules that apply to other collective nouns. For example, it is correct http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English usage to say: "None are so fallible as those who are sure they're right." In this case, the plural verb is used because the context for "none" suggests more than one thing or person.^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_noun#cite_note-1}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_noun

Mister Micawber · Answer

Mister MicawberEvidently, you don't get out much.

Yep—just hang around Wikipedia.

Golraz · Answer

Thank you very much, all.

Elanguest · Answer

No problem. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Q3. Have or has?

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