Sales Staff is or are

Question

While drafting an internal memo to our sales staff i got mixed up in the use of 'is' or 'are' in the following context:

1) All sales staff are hereby being informed that .........

2) All sales staff is hereby being informed that .............

Can someone guide me as to which is the correct one??

Thanks

S

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

Anonymous:

1) All sales staff are hereby being informed that ..

2) All sales staff is hereby being informed that ..

Staff is a collective noun; in other words, it is grammatically singular but refers to many people. Usage varies. Both is and are are correct in your example. Americans prefer is but are is very common in British English. In fact, I don't think I have ever heard a British sports commentator use a singular verb to refer to a football team, for example: England lead two nil.

I would leave out being in your sentence (and probably hereby as well).

CB

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