a bunch of the boys ?was/?were...

[James C Stalker]

I'm not sure that I see how this explains "The team have won its last thee
matches."

Jim Stalker


Laurence Horn writes:

> At 1:27 AM -0500 2/28/05, Wilson Gray wrote:
>>
>> It's not an arguable point at all. You are correct, sir. All that one
>> need do is apply the relevant prescriptive rule:
>>
>> 1) "The group" et sim. require a singular verb phrase.
>>
>> 2) "A group" et sim. require a plural verb phrase.
>>
>> -Wilson [I do but jest, of course. But (1) and (2) above are real
>> prescriptive rules that I was taught in high school.]
>>
>
> Like all prescriptive rules, I fear these--or at least (2)--will end
> up leaking around the edges.  If the predicate relates directly to
> the group rather than its members, a singular verb sounds better to
> me:
>
> A group of Bantu languages in southern Africa {have/#has} click
> consonants.
> A group of Bantu languages forming an enclave in eastern Nigeria is
> (?are) in danger of becoming extinct/has (?have) been shown to be
> closely related to a subgroup of languages in the Lake Victoria
> region.
>
> [N.B.: The "facts" in the latter sentence were just made up on the spot]
>
> Or even more clearly in:
>
> "A group of people always has (#have) a leader."
>
> And then there are quasi-metalinguistic uses:
>
> "For me, a group of objects always has/?have at least 3 members"
>
> What's crucial is whether we're predicating something directly of the
> group or of its members.
>
> Larry
>
>
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James C. Stalker
Department of English
Michigan State University