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Victo Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Rock Bands and Sports Teams - Singular/Plural Verb?
My logic is this: If a band or sports team name ends with an s, then we would use a plural verb; if it doesn't, treat it as singular. Do you subscribe to this logic? See examples below; sorry the list is lengthy, but I think I'm onto something here.
Do you agree with all listed examples below?
Bands/Musical Groups-
The Beatles are a good band.
Kings of Leon is a good band.
The Who is a good band.
Metallica is a good band.
Alice in Chains are a good band.
The Rolling Stones are a good band.
U2 is a good band.
Depeche Mode is a good band.
Sports Teams-
The Yankees are a great team!
The Red Sox are a great team. (Because the ending in Sox sounds like it ends in an s, use are.)
The Utah Jazz is a great team.
The Celtics are a great team.
The Philadelphia 76ers were a great team.
The Mets are a great team.
The Cubs are a great team.
The Dallas Cowboys are a great team.
The Tampa Bay Lightening is a great team.
The Miami Heat is a great team.
The Orlando Magic is a great team.
Colorado Avalanche is a good team.
Oklahoma City Thunder is a great team.
The Minnesota Wild is a great team.
Good to all?
Thanks.
Do you agree with all listed examples below?
Bands/Musical Groups-
The Beatles are a good band.
Kings of Leon is a good band.
The Who is a good band.
Metallica is a good band.
Alice in Chains are a good band.
The Rolling Stones are a good band.
U2 is a good band.
Depeche Mode is a good band.
Sports Teams-
The Yankees are a great team!
The Red Sox are a great team. (Because the ending in Sox sounds like it ends in an s, use are.)
The Utah Jazz is a great team.
The Celtics are a great team.
The Philadelphia 76ers were a great team.
The Mets are a great team.
The Cubs are a great team.
The Dallas Cowboys are a great team.
The Tampa Bay Lightening is a great team.
The Miami Heat is a great team.
The Orlando Magic is a great team.
Colorado Avalanche is a good team.
Oklahoma City Thunder is a great team.
The Minnesota Wild is a great team.
Good to all?
Thanks.
Top answer
victo Good to all? Yes, except Alice in Chains. Alice is.
- victo Good to all?
- Yes, except Alice in Chains.
- Alice is.
- CJ
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4 Answers
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Mostly, but it is a matter also of notional concord, not just grammatical concord. In the first place, BrE tends to make teams plural while AmE tends to make them singular. In the second place, it often depends on the speaker's viewpoint at the moment. Among your list, I would just as likely say, for instance:
The Who are a good band.
Alice in Chains
The Who are a good band.
Alice in Chains
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Because Chains is the object of the preposition in, right? So we'd simply stick with Alice in this case, huh? Thanks again, Mister Micawber.
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