Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
This is a difference between British and American English. British English normally treats collective nouns (companies, etc) as plural; American English as singular. Thus in British English you would normally have "Microsoft are releasing a new product", but in American English "Microsoft is releasing a new product".
If you look at "The Financial Times" (a quintessentially British business newspaper) you'll find that companies are always referred to in the plural.
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Well, I'm in Australia, so maybe we're between the two. I was taught that collective nouns are singular, and the Australian Style Manual maintained by the AGPS agrees, but I notice that on Australian radio and TV the trend seems to be to treat collective nouns (and entities like countries, companies or teams) as plural.
But I don't think it's so clear-cut between US and UK English either. The Chicago Manual and Strunk & White say singular, but the page Samhy linked to says a team can take a plural noun.
In the UK, the BBC Style Guide says BBC Radio News says plural, but BBC TV and BBC Online say singular. The Oxford Guide to English Usage says collective nouns are singular, with no exceptions.
Huh.
