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Usenet Posted 18 years ago
English in UK
Question about plurals.
Consider these two sentences:
A group of men played with the dogs. They were energetic.
The word "they" may possibly refer to "the group of men", not to the dogs.
This seems illogical, because "A group" is single, it is not plural, so "they" cannot refer to it.
So is the phrase "A group of men" a special sort of plural, so that "they" can be applied to it?
Can the phrase "a group of men" be sometimes treated as singular, and sometimes as plural?
Is there a category of similar phrases,
called by a term known to linguists,
which have this property of being sometimes singular and sometimes plural?
Martin Sondergaard,
London, UK.
A group of men played with the dogs. They were energetic.
The word "they" may possibly refer to "the group of men", not to the dogs.
This seems illogical, because "A group" is single, it is not plural, so "they" cannot refer to it.
So is the phrase "A group of men" a special sort of plural, so that "they" can be applied to it?
Can the phrase "a group of men" be sometimes treated as singular, and sometimes as plural?
Is there a category of similar phrases,
called by a term known to linguists,
which have this property of being sometimes singular and sometimes plural?
Martin Sondergaard,
London, UK.
Top answer
Martin Sondergaard schrieb: [nq:1]Consider these two sentences: A group of men played with the dogs. They were energetic. The word "they" may possibly ...
- Martin Sondergaard schrieb: [nq:1]Consider these two sentences: A group of men played with the dogs.
- They were energetic.
- The word "they" may possibly ...
- [/nq] Virtually all nouns that refer to groups behave in this way.
- Take for example the word "company": "Our company is based in the South-west of England.
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4 Answers
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Martin Sondergaard schrieb:
[nq:1]Consider these two sentences: A group of men played with the dogs. They were energetic. The word "they" may possibly ... similar phrases, called by a term known to linguists, which have this property of being sometimes singular and sometimes plural?[/nq]
Virtually all nouns that refer to groups behave in this way. Take for example the word "company": "Our
[nq:1]Consider these two sentences: A group of men played with the dogs. They were energetic. The word "they" may possibly ... similar phrases, called by a term known to linguists, which have this property of being sometimes singular and sometimes plural?[/nq]
Virtually all nouns that refer to groups behave in this way. Take for example the word "company": "Our
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[nq:1]Virtually all nouns that refer to groups behave in this way. Take for example the word "company": "Our company is based in the South-west of England. We supply high-quality widgets to the widget-processing industry."[/nq]
That's a poor example, as the "we" refers back to the group of people represented by "our". But the core is true. You'll hear "The majority are" more often than "is" an
That's a poor example, as the "we" refers back to the group of people represented by "our". But the core is true. You'll hear "The majority are" more often than "is" an
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sprocket schrieb:
[nq:2]Virtually all nouns that refer to groups behave in this ... of England. We supply high-quality widgets to the widget-processing industry."[/nq]
[nq:1]That's a poor example, as the "we" refers back to the group of people represented by "our".[/nq]
But it also works if I talk about "My company ... We supply ..." or "Company X ... They ..." - so I disagree that the
[nq:2]Virtually all nouns that refer to groups behave in this ... of England. We supply high-quality widgets to the widget-processing industry."[/nq]
[nq:1]That's a poor example, as the "we" refers back to the group of people represented by "our".[/nq]
But it also works if I talk about "My company ... We supply ..." or "Company X ... They ..." - so I disagree that the
00
[nq:1]Consider these two sentences: A group of men played with the dogs. They were energetic. The word "they" may possibly ... is the phrase "A group of men" a special sort of plural, so that "they" can be applied to it?[/nq]
In this case, "they" doesn't refer to the "group", which is the unit of aggregation, but to the individual "men" comprising the group.
[nq:1]Can the phrase "a group o
In this case, "they" doesn't refer to the "group", which is the unit of aggregation, but to the individual "men" comprising the group.
[nq:1]Can the phrase "a group o
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