# English grammar question. Using is or are? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256 "2013-11-06T17:26:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/1 "2013-11-06T17:26:17Z")
I looked at a movie review on television, and the short little blurb read “_A couple **are** terrorized_.” This sounded wrong to me in my head. “_A couple **IS** terrorized_.” is much better sounding… But that doesn’t make it correct. But when I thought about it, a couple is one “thing”. It’s made up of two people, but it’s one entity, like an apple, or a quartet. So, it should read “_a couple **IS** terrorized_.” Is my thinking correct here? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/2 "2013-11-06T17:28:19Z")
[http://afterdeadline.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/singular-plural-pick-one/?\_r=0](http://afterdeadline.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/singular-plural-pick-one/?_r=0) from it (and The Times’ stylebook) …couple may be either singular or plural. Used in reference to two distinct but associated people, couple should be construed as a plural: The couple were married in 1952. The couple argued constantly; they [not it] even threw punches. When the idea is one entity rather than two people, couple may be treated as a singular: Each couple was asked to give $10; The couple was the richest on the block. In general, couple causes fewer problems when treated as a plural. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/3 "2013-11-06T17:29:01Z")
British English commonly uses plural verbs with collective nouns. Cite: [Oxford Languages | The Home of Language Data](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/words/matching-verbs-to-collective-nouns-american) ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/4 "2013-11-06T17:46:16Z")
I would say “A couple are terrorized,” is better in this case. After all, it is not the collective entity, the couple that is feeling terror, it is each of the individual people who comprise it. It is equivalent to saying “Two people are being terrorized.” ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/5 "2013-11-06T17:53:47Z")
It’s a bit of a grey (or gray) area, because these things do have simultaneously singular and plural natures. As **KneadToKnow** says, British English often leans more towards the plural interpretation. But it depends on whether you are considering the entity as a whole or not. ---
**Author:** ![thisishowwepray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@thisishowwepray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thisishowwepray)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/6 "2013-11-06T17:54:05Z")
I would say “a couple is terrorized” because it is standard written (American) English to use singular verbs for collective nouns. Examples: _The United States is a large country. The news is on. The group is selective. The band is mediocre. The mini-series is ending._ “A couple” is tricky because it clearly indicates that there are two people. However, it is still a single entity. On the SAT, “the couple is” is always correct. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/7 "2013-11-06T22:24:11Z")
Collective nouns. Go figure? ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/8 "2013-11-07T22:39:33Z")
My understanding was that a collective noun can be singular or plural depending on whether the group is actually performing the act as a group, or if they are acting individually. As in, “The team is riding the bus” acting as a group. Or, “The team are scattered all over the field” acting individually. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/9 "2013-11-07T23:49:50Z")
Am I not correct in thinking that the British use plurals with some collectives that Americans would use singular? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/10 "2013-11-08T00:44:33Z")
> [@svd678](#): > > Am I not correct in thinking that the British use plurals with some collectives that Americans would use singular? You are correct. I wouldb’t say that British English invariably uses plurals with collectives, but it does so much more frequently than US English does. ---
**Author:** ![Clipper222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/97f17d/32.png) [@Clipper222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clipper222)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/11 "2013-11-08T07:54:41Z")
I hate to make the third post of my membership a direct correction of another member’s grammar but people don’t comprise a couple; a couple comprises two people. The word “comprise” is a close relative to “include” and more of an inverse to the word “compose”, for which it is very often substituted. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/12 "2013-11-08T12:28:47Z")
> [@Clipper222](#): > > I hate to make the third post of my membership a direct correction of another member’s grammar Hey, it’s the SDMB, what took you so long? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/13 "2013-11-08T13:38:02Z")
> [@Clipper222](#): > > I hate to make the third post of my membership a direct correction of another member’s grammar but people don’t comprise a couple; a couple comprises two people. The word “comprise” is a close relative to “include” and more of an inverse to the word “compose”, for which it is very often substituted. One of the worst things about a living language is that it marches on: see [definition 2](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprise). ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/14 "2013-11-08T18:05:32Z")
Collective nouns are problematic. Even the British wouldn’t use plural verbs with “everyone”, right? Everyone are going to the town meeting? So, two should be plural, but many are singular? I’ve been running “the couple is” and “the couple are” through my head, and the one that resonates better seems to change with the meaning of the sentence. Gah! What a strange language. (Or … I have to admit the possibility … what a strange head.) ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/15 "2013-11-08T18:16:17Z")
Nothing brings out the National Socialist collective like grammar [does]. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/16 "2013-11-08T18:17:11Z")
I keep hearing a line from a Monty Python skit in my head (sorry, can’t recall which one… Novel Writing, maybe?)… “And the crowd are loving it!!!” Yes, Novel Writing - [Monty Python: Novel Writing](http://www.montypython.net/scripts/nov-writ.php) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/17 "2013-11-08T18:24:38Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I keep hearing a line from a Monty Python skit in my head (sorry, can’t recall which one… Novel Writing, maybe?)… “And the crowd are loving it!!!” > > Yes, Novel Writing - [MontyPython.net The Ultimate Monty Python Site](http://www.montypython.net/scripts/nov-writ.php) Wild. That actually may have been my first exposure to this usage. ---
**Author:** ![thisishowwepray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@thisishowwepray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thisishowwepray)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/18 "2013-11-08T19:10:53Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Collective nouns are problematic. Even the British wouldn’t use plural verbs with “everyone”, right? Everyone are going to the town meeting? So, two should be plural, but many are singular? > > I’ve been running “the couple is” and “the couple are” through my head, and the one that resonates better seems to change with the meaning of the sentence. Gah! What a strange language. (Or … I have to admit the possibility … what a strange head.) Collective pronouns such as everyone, nobody, and someone are always treated as singular. I teach American English but it is my understanding that the same rules for collective pronouns are true in the UK, unlike the rules for collective nouns (the couple, the team, the group). “The couple is” is always correct in American English unless “the couple” does not act as the subject of the sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Clipper222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/97f17d/32.png) [@Clipper222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clipper222)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/19 "2013-11-08T20:21:37Z")
I still have to fight the urge sometimes to say, “There is a lot of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_.” After all, a lot is a singular subject. But I know I would sound silly so I just don’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-grammar-question-using-is-or-are/673256/20 "2013-11-08T20:41:02Z")
I love saying “The data are…” because I know it is correct, even though it just sounds wrong.