Sometimes, there is confusion
on subject-verb agreement with collective nouns. Here are two important rules to
follow:
A. When
the collective noun is functioning as a group, use the singular form of the
verb. For example:
The team is traveling
to Chicago for the championship.
In the above sentence, the
collective noun “team” is acting as a group. The members of the team are
traveling to Chicago as one unit. Therefore, the singular verb “is” is used.
B. When
the parts of a collective noun are functioning as individual units, use the
plural form of the verb. For example:
The flock of
birds are splitting up and flying away from each other.
Here,
the collective noun “flock” is acting as individual units. Each bird is flying in
a different direction away from the others on its own. Therefore, the plural
verb “are” is used.