Subject verb agreement: further information

    One of these cheeses is mild; the others are strong.

Singular nouns are followed by a singular verb and plural nouns by a plural verb:

            A client from Romania was at the seminar.

            Among those present at the seminar were our Romanian clients.

But sometimes it is not so easy to choose the correct form:

Nouns that refer to a group, company or organisation can be used with either a singular or plural verb. Usually, there is little or no difference in the meaning and it doesn't matter which we use although singular verbs are preferred in formal English.

However, we sometimes use a singular verb when we consider the group as a single entity and a plural verb when we see it as a collection of individuals - it depends what we want to say about them: 

            The IT team is based in Lyon. [the whole team]

            The team is/are going to lunch at 1 o'clock. [the whole team or each member]

A British jury consists of twelve people. [the whole thing]

            The jury have all made their decision. [each person separately]

Other examples include: audience, class, company, crowd, department, family, government, population, school and the names of companies or organisations such as the BBC, Apple, the Stock Exchange and the World Health Organisation.

Note that   

1.     Most of the time, we do not make a clear and deliberate distinction between singular and plural use. Sometimes both are possible:

My family live/lives in Ireland.

Or it is clear from the context which to use.

The crowd is getting bigger.

The crowd are getting bigger. 

      2.       There are other nouns which are always plural, such as 'police':

The police have arrested two men in connection with the robbery.

And some which are plural most of the time, such as 'staff':

     Staff who want to leave early have to ask permission first.

The choice of verb depends on the noun. Here are some examples: 

Some common irregular plural nouns are nowadays treated as singular. For example:

            This data is unreliable.  

Is it a strong bacteria?

What was the criteria for the decision?

Another example is 'the media' - a collective term for different methods of broadcasting the news - although some people prefer a plural verb:

The media was/were responsible for influencing public opinion.

The media has/have been accused of invading people's privacy.

In other contexts, 'media' is clearly plural:

            Various media for delivering the training courses are being considered.

We usually use a plural verb:  

            My sister and I are going to Italy next year.

But if we see the items as a single entity, we use a singular verb:

            Blackcurrant crumble and ice cream is my favourite dessert.

            Health and Safety has to be a priority for us.

Be careful to match the noun to the verb:

The manager of the European teams has retired. [the manager, not 'teams have']

The emails from the customer have all been dealt with. [the emails, not 'customer has']

This is an important point to consider if you take a test in English.

'One of' is followed by a plural noun but does not take a plural verb because it refers to 'one of a pair or group':

One of my colleagues is sick.

One of my colleagues are sick.   

An exception is when we add a relative pronoun. In this case, we can use either a singular or a plural verb. Here are some examples:

See also Quantifiers and plural nouns.