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Collective Nouns

Collective nouns refer to groups composed of individual members.

• audience
• company
• council
• class
• corporation
• committee
• crowd
• government
• family
• gang
• group
• jury
• panel
• team

The team that was ahead in the playoffs lost its home game.

The corporation is changing its policy on parental leave.

The class picked up their class rings this morning. (The members of the class picked up their rings individually.)

Every year our family argue about where to go on our vacation. This is hard to see unless you ask “argues with others” or “argue among themselves.” (Word Grammar gives a faulty preference about the subject-verb agreement.)

If you have a collective noun problem in your writing, change it by adding the individuals:

Difficult: The team players (was, were) excited about (their, its) determination to win the game.

Easy: The players (was, were) excited about (their, its) determination to win the game.

Difficult: Every year our family (argue, argues) about where to go on our vacation.

Easy: Every year members of our family (argue, argues) about where to go on our vacation.

Difficult: The jury jurors (was, were) excited about going on a field trip to examine the crime scene.

Easy: The jurors (was, were) excited about going on a field trip to examine the crime scene.

If you have a collective noun question on a test, you cannot change it, so look for a clue somewhere in the sentence:

The clue could be an example of subject/verb or pronoun/antecedent use:

The team (was, were) excited about (their, its) determination to win the game.

Because they can test you on only one skill in each question (either subject/verb or pronoun/antecedent), look around and maybe spot a use. Then select the choice that is consistent:

The team was excited about (their, its) determination to win the game. (The singular was clues us in to pick the singular its.)

The team (was, were) excited about their determination to win the game.
(The plural their clues us in to pick the plural were.)

The clue could be information showing disagreement:

The team (was, were) divided about (their, its) decision to forfeit the game.
The disagreement shown by divided clues us in that the team is not acting as a unit, so we must use the plurals were and their.

The team (was, were) wearing new uniforms.
They were all acting as a unit, so we use the conventional American usage of the singular was.

Name______________________________

Making Pronouns and Antecedents Agree: Collective Nouns

Circle the correct pronoun in parentheses in each sentence below.

The computer company has a reputation for being generous to (their, its) employees.
Skyward Airlines was involved in a campaign to change (their, its) image.
The hiring committee were arguing for hours and then told the applicant (their, its) decision.
After the singer left the stage, the audience expressed (their, its) disappointment with boos and hissing.
After the singer left the stage, the audience expressed (their, its) reaction with a mixture of boos and applause.
The family lost (their, its) home in a fire last week.
I loved working at the Castle Company because (it, they) gave me such a generous package of benefits.
The board has voted unanimously to fire (their, its) attorney.
The board stood firm in (their, its) determination to reject the developers’ arguments for the zoning change.
The board have argued for over an hour about whether to fire (their, its) attorney. (Word’s Grammar gives a faulty preference.)

Correcting Errors of Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement within a Paragraph

Read the following paragraph carefully, looking for errors in agreement of pronouns and their antecedents. Cross out each pronoun that does not agree with its antecedent and write the correct pronoun above it. Seven pronouns need correcting.

Protex is an admirable company. The management team is friendly in their relations with the employees, and Protex is aware of their responsibility to the environment. Protex has designed their policies to motivate employees, not to intimidate them. The work force knows they will be treated fairly. Protex is not only considerate of workers but they are concerned for the environment. For example all the products are made of recycled paper. I hope every company in this country is doing their part, just as the Paper Company does theirs.

Answers:

Making Pronouns and Antecedents Agree: Collective Nouns

Circle the correct pronoun in parentheses in each sentence below.

The computer company has a reputation for being generous to (their, its) employees.
Skyward Airlines was involved in a campaign to change (their, its) image.
The hiring committee were arguing for hours and then told the applicant (their, its) decision.
After the singer left the stage, the audience expressed (their, its) disappointment with boos and hissing.
After the singer left the stage, the audience expressed (their, its) reaction with a mixture of boos and applause.
The family lost (their, its) home in a fire last week.
I loved working at the Castle Company because (it, they) gave me such a generous package of benefits.
The board has voted unanimously to fire (their, its) attorney.
The board stood firm in (their, its) determination to reject the developers’ arguments for the zoning change.
The board have argued for over an hour about whether to fire (their, its) attorney. (Word’s Grammar gives a faulty preference.)

Correcting Errors of Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement within a Paragraph

Read the following paragraph carefully, looking for errors in agreement of pronouns and their antecedents. Cross out each pronoun that does not agree with its antecedent and write the correct pronoun above it. Seven pronouns need correcting.

Protex is an admirable company. The management team is friendly in their its relations with the employees, and Protex is aware of their its responsibility to the environment. Protex has designed their its policies to motivate employees, not to intimidate them. The work force knows workers know they will be treated fairly. Protex is not only considerate of workers but they are it is concerned for the environment. For example all the products are made of recycled paper. I hope every company all other companies in this country is are doing their part, just as the Paper Company does theirs its.

Last updated 9/18/06