Problems with plurals in verb-subject agreement

Problems with plurals in verb-subject agreement
 
 

Sometimes the subject (the person or thing doing the action of the verb) may seem to be plural, because it is a 'collective noun' - a singular (one) noun that groups together many things or people.
e.g. A swarm of bees = 1 swarm, containing many bees
A pack of cards = 1 pack, containing many cards

This is an area of some debate, but as they are treated as a singular unit, collective nouns usually take the singular verb form.
e.g. A herd of elephants was charging towards us.
The class is very noisy today.
My football team is doing really well.

e.g. My colleague and manager were both promoted today.
(Two people = plural subject)
Rupert and Jane are football fans but Colin prefers shopping.
(Two people = plural subject, takes the plural verb 'are'; one person = singular subject, takes the singular verb 'prefers')

e.g. The bag of shopping was too heavy to carry.
(Bag of shopping = singular subject. Lots of shopping, but there's only one bag.)

Remember: if you are unsure which verb form to use, look at the subject carefully. Is the subject singular (one), or plural (many)? A singular subject requires the singular verb form. A plural subject requires the plural verb form.

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