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Damien Braniff wrote:
>
> Somebody said "If you consider Parliament as a group of people, then
> "Parliament
> are" is correct. If you consider Parliament as an institution,
> then "Parliament is" is correct."
>
> Isn't that a bit like saying the herd are (being made up of a goup of cows
> etc)?! Surely Parliament is a collective noun for a group of MPs; Congress
> a collective noun for a group of senators????
Sort of. To quote from somewhere:
"A collective noun in the singular (e.g. audience, committee), or any
singular noun that can be used to denote plurality (e.g. government,
industry, the public), may be used with a singular or plural verb as the
sense demands. If the emphasis is on the single unit,a singular verb is
appropriate: 'The group is too large.' If the emphasis is on the members
of the unit, a plural verb is more natural: 'A group of children were
running around.' In many cases it does not matter, provided that there
is consistency within a sentence, i.e. either singular or plural forms,
not a mixture of the two, should be used throughout: 'The Government
prefers to let matters rest, but events may make them change their
minds.' is wrong."
