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Subject:Re: is/are From:Joe Miller <joemiller -at- CANBERRA -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 19 Nov 1997 09:32:55 -0500
Damien,
>Somebody said "If you consider Parliament as a group of people, then
>"Parliament are" is correct. If you consider Parliament as an institution,
>then "Parliament is" is correct."
>Isn't that a bit like saying the herd are (being made up of a goup of cows
>etc)?! Surely Parliament is a collective noun for a group of MPs; Congress
>a collective noun for a group of senators????
Logically, what you say is correct, but, IMHO, language and logic do not
go hand in hand. I stand by what I said: Parliament can be construed as
a singular body or a plural group of individuals. The fact that we don't do
that with "Congress" in the US doesn't have anything at all to do with what
other native English speakers do (or not do, as the case may be).
