Are and Is

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I get confused when people speak of national teams* e.g "England is out of the rugby world cup at the first hurdle" when I think it should be "England are out of the rugby world cup at the first hurdle" as I see England in this sense as a collection of individuals and therefore plural rather than a single entity.



*Either way, in the example given above, I chuckled

 

[vernon]

I get confused when people speak of national teams* e.g "England is out of the rugby world cup at the first hurdle" when I think it should be "England are out of the rugby world cup at the first hurdle" as I see England in this sense as a collection of individuals and therefore plural rather than a single entity.



*Either way, in the example given above, I chuckled

I think that it depends on the context like what you have identified.

England is a country. As a rugby team, England are piss poor.

 

[PeteXXX]

I heard someone on the wireless this week saying that some people is now using Smileys on job applications ..

Fallen at the first hurdle, methinks, innit bro!

 

[jefmcg]

I heard someone on the wireless this week saying that some people is now using Smileys on job applications ..

Please tell me this was a deliberate error!

 

[PeteXXX]

Please tell me this was a deliberate error!

I'll leave you to guess...

 

[night cycler]

Did you mean literacy?

The news article states computer technology literacy.

"It compared their results with its previous assessment in 2011, and discovered the average computer technology literacy of students in both year levels had dropped".

 

[slowmotion]

Just wait until the Christmas/New Year sales. The advertisers certainly know how to mangle the English language....
"SUITS.....
was £599.......now £199".
In a particularly grumpy moment, I wrote to Moss Bros 15 years ago about their appalling grammar. I got a very civil, amusing reply.

 

[winjim]

Suspense, innit. If you say "And the winners are..." you've already given away the fact that it's a band rather than a solo artist. Ruins the interminable dramatic pause.



Ed Sheeran? Seriously?

 

[vernon]

The news article states computer technology literacy.

"It compared their results with its previous assessment in 2011, and discovered the average computer technology literacy of students in both year levels had dropped".

Context is everything.

Literacy is widely accepted as a victim of mobile phone use and is widely used as an example of the impact of mobile technology in educational research and at the chalk face and I assumed it was that to which you were referring.

Computer technology literacy is something that is, more often than not, poorly taught and is about to take a back seat in learning experiences as schools abandon it in favour of computer science/programming at the behest of the Government's revamp of the National Curriculum.

I'm very interested in reading the article. Do you have a link?

 

[Cuchilo]

I don't really watch the tv its just on and i don't bother switching channels because i'm not watching it . When XFactor is on i normally wait for the song and then you tube the original . That then takes me off into another load of music until i get bored and take the headphones off and they shout IS at me

Nothing wrong with a bit of ED !

 

[Asa Post]

I'm very interested in reading the article. Do you have a link?

'Twas an Australian study.

 

[Postmanhat]

I get confused when people speak of national teams* e.g "England is out of the rugby world cup at the first hurdle" when I think it should be "England are out of the rugby world cup at the first hurdle" as I see England in this sense as a collection of individuals and therefore plural rather than a single entity.



*Either way, in the example given above, I chuckled

They refer to sports teams in the singular on the continent and in The US. For some reason, about 10 years ago, the BBC started insisting on doing it in their sports bulletins as well. But "Man Utd is good" still likes Ali G to me.

 

[RichardB]

The real problem isn't exactly what is above, but what if a band wins. It's either

"The winner is One Direction"
Or
"The winners are One direction"

I think it's a matter of opinion which is right. If it's a single prize that could go to either a band or an individual, I'd go with the first. If all the contestants are bands - especially if it's a prize for bands, I'd go with the second.

Note Neither "The winner are One Direction" nor "`The winners is One Direction" are correct. Ever.

Yup, the verb must agree with the subject. The winner is, or the winners are. I guess things like band names are a bit flexible and depend on the context. It's quite possible to say 'the government is ...' and 'the government are' in different contexts and be correct. Same with teams - it depends whether you are referring to it/them as a single entity or a collection of individuals.

 

[jefmcg]

and discovered the average computer technology literacy of students in both year levels had dropped

Ah, so that's why people keep saying "....data is..."

 

[winjim]

Ah, so that's why people keep saying "....data is..."

Data is.
The data are.
The [collection of] data is.
The datum is.