American Grammar Help, please...

monster • Sep 4, 2011 7:23 pm
XYZ Synchronized Swim Team

are proud to present



OR



XYZ Synchronized Swim Team

is proud to present
footfootfoot • Sep 4, 2011 7:24 pm
is this country a group is singular
monster • Sep 4, 2011 7:38 pm
thanks, that's what I thought, wanted to make sure ..it's treated as a plural in Brit English.
Clodfobble • Sep 4, 2011 7:56 pm
Officially, it can be either depending on the intent. But in common usage, people would expect "is" for a swim team.
monster • Sep 4, 2011 8:03 pm
thanks, common usage is what i need :)
Pico and ME • Sep 4, 2011 8:27 pm
If it was the XYZ Synchronized Swimmers, then 'are' would be appropriate...
BigV • Sep 5, 2011 12:32 am
When I listen to the sports news on the BBC, I find it a little jarring to hear the team's name used as a plural. "Arsenal are..." etc.
DanaC • Sep 5, 2011 4:29 am
'is' can also be used but it depends on context.
ZenGum • Sep 5, 2011 7:24 am
I find it particularly jarring when a team with a plural countable-noun name (say, the Denver Broncos) are playing a team with an uncountable noun name (Miami Heat).

"Miami Heat is in the lead, but the Broncos are closing fast..." Ugh.
monster • Sep 5, 2011 7:53 am
BigV;754492 wrote:
When I listen to the sports news on the BBC, I find it a little jarring to hear the team's name used as a plural. "Arsenal are..." etc.


That's only because you don't know how to speak proper.
glatt • Sep 5, 2011 7:55 am
Zen, how do you know about the Miami Heat? Do they really get coverage in Australia? Or is their name just a joke there?
footfootfoot • Sep 5, 2011 8:28 am
It's a dry heat

xyz synchronized swimmerS makes it plural. TeamS would also be plural.
BigV • Sep 5, 2011 1:59 pm
ZenGum;754510 wrote:
I find it particularly jarring when [SIZE="5"]a team[/SIZE] with a plural countable-noun name (say, the Denver Broncos) [SIZE="5"]are playing[/SIZE] a team with an uncountable noun name (Miami Heat).

"Miami Heat is in the lead, but the Broncos are closing fast..." Ugh.


This is what I'm talking about. CLANG!!
BigV • Sep 5, 2011 1:59 pm
monster;754515 wrote:
That's only because you don't know how to speak proper.


So stipulated.
Griff • Sep 5, 2011 2:57 pm
ZenGum;754510 wrote:
I find it particularly jarring when a team with a plural countable-noun name (say, the Denver Broncos) are playing a team with an uncountable noun name (Miami Heat).

"Miami Heat is in the lead, but the Broncos are closing fast..." Ugh.


Especially jarring is one playing Football Americano and the other basketball. :)
ZenGum • Sep 5, 2011 9:05 pm
:lol: :lol: :lol:

Thank you, Big V, I'm glad someone noticed my deliberate error. ;) Just put there for illustration purposes, of course.

Griff: That would be pretty jarring, wouldn't it. I guess the bulls Vs Heat would be more fair!

Glatt: you Yankee cultural imperialist dogs (no, wait, is it pigs?) have flooded the planet with your commercialist culture to saturation point - and the rest of us race to slurp it up like a hi-powered sewage pump draining a septic tank at a rock festival. :D

Just off the top of my head: Lebron James just moved from (I think) Chicago to Miami, ticking off quite a few fans along the way, but wasn't able to clinch the championship. Was that right?

Do I win a big mac?


ETA: Should that be "Yankee cultural imperialist dogs has flooded ..."?
ZenGum • Sep 5, 2011 10:27 pm
Our study guide offers the following:

Some nouns which are grammatically singular may be followed by a plural verb form. These are often called collective nouns. Collective nouns take a singular verb when the noun is referring to the groups as a unit; they take a plural verb when the noun is referring to individuals within the group.

The English football team was beaten by Italy.
The English football team were arguing amongst themselves.
DanaC • Sep 6, 2011 7:11 am
It also depends whether you are referring to them as an object (The English football team) or using the team name 'England'.

So, you'd say 'The English football team is due to arrive at the airport in half an hour', but 'England are due to arrive at the airport in half an hour'.
Spexxvet • Sep 6, 2011 8:50 am
ZenGum;754607 wrote:
Just off the top of my head: Lebron James just moved from (I think) Chicago to Miami, ticking off quite a few fans along the way, but wasn't able to clinch the championship. Was that right?

Do I win a big mac?



He moved from Cleveland, so you only win a little mac.;)
Big Sarge • Sep 7, 2011 7:35 am
i wish the brits would learn to speak english in their school system. it would help their children learn to function in the world society. perhaps we could arrange a language program where rural mississippians would serve as tutors.


'y'all come back again; you here?"
Undertoad • Sep 10, 2011 11:08 am
It turns out the American accent is closer to what English speakers spoke in the 1700s.
DanaC • Sep 10, 2011 5:40 pm
It's closer to some regions in the 1700s. It's significantly further away from what would have been spoken in most of the North
Undertoad • Sep 10, 2011 11:03 pm
How long until we merge again?
Clodfobble • Sep 10, 2011 11:42 pm
I think what's supposed to happen is we have sex with all of them, and then their species dies out?