A group of boys is/are

Question

1) A group of boys is playing football.

or

2) A group of boys are playing football.

My teacher told me the first sentence is correct since of boys can be ignored to make:

A group is playing football.

It feels very awkward in my mouth to say boys is.

The first one is grammatically correct as you're referring to the group which is singular. But I would say "some boys are playing" or "a team is playing" depending on the context. — onlyforthis, Nov 25 '15 at 11:32
It depends whether you're looking at the British or American usage pattern. In the British pattern, the collective (group) is usually plural; in the American pattern, it's always singular. — Stan Rogers, Nov 25 '15 at 15:09
@StanRogers here in the US, I was always taught to use the form that would be appropriate when switching to third-person pronoun e.g. "they are playing football" not "they is playing football." — , Nov 25 '15 at 15:45
@Snowman: in this case, a group is an "it" - singular. The team is playing football, it is winning the game. Not sure how it could be seen otherwise. — , Nov 25 '15 at 18:31
In AE, you usually say a group of boys are playing., while in BE, you can say either a group of boys is playing or a group of boys are playing, without any difference in meaning. — Khan, Nov 25 '15 at 19:48
@nocomprende - In British English, you would say "My team are playing..." or "The crowd are going wild." It sounds odd to an ear attuned to the American pattern, but it's grammatically correct in the BE (and BE-derived) dialects. — Stan Rogers, Nov 25 '15 at 20:15
Weighing in with AuE. We're taught that the singular noun (group) determines the plurality of the sentence hence the correct version is: A group of boys is playing. Exceptions to this are where the singular noun has a strong correlation to a number (eg: couple, trio). But we're Australian, so in general usage, you'll hear both versions without complaint from any but the most pedantic listener. — mcalex, Nov 26 '15 at 04:07

Maulik V · Answer 1 · 2015-11-26T05:10:16.117

15

Yes, you should feel awkward using boys is. But you should not so using a group (of boys) is.

You feel awkward because you think 'is' is for 'boys'.

You should not feel awkward because 'is' is for 'group' there!

I did not think to provide an answer one more level deep. I thought the OP is from a non-native speaking country and this question is a very basic question with a straightforward answer 'a group is'. But since learned registered users here want this answer to be utterly foolproof, I'm adding this.

Okay,

'A group of boys are playing ...'

is possible!

Soon, as Christmas is nearing, you may observe that...

'A number of offers are getting displayed on the hoardings.'

[By 'offer', I mean festive season offers]

How?

Well, here, the noun 'offer' is used in its plural form i.e. 'offers'. And, when you quantify the plural noun with 'A number of', a plural verb ('are') is used which will look more natural.

Quantifying means using some words to show number of something - how much, how many etc. In above sentences, A group of, A number of etc. are used as quantifiers.

Another example can be built:

A lot of monkeys were on the tree

Do you get it?

I've closely observed the education systems in India, and I won't be surprised if 'a group of boys are...' will surprise almost every non-native teacher teaching English! I'm sure this is the same case with Nepal. Said that, if your teacher says that 'a group of boys is playing something'.... it's fine.

edited Nov 26 '15 at 05:10

answered Nov 25 '15 at 11:46

Maulik V

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So, crowd is watching Cricket match. Is this sentence is correct? – Mihir Oza Nov 25 '15 at 11:52
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yes, crowd can be singular and plural. So, it's absolutely fine. @MihirOza – Maulik V Nov 25 '15 at 11:57
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Wait! It should be A/the crowd is/are watching a/the cricket match. – Damkerng T. Nov 25 '15 at 12:00
So, are you saying 'a group of boys is' is correct but not 'a group of boys are'? – birajrai Nov 25 '15 at 14:21
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Yes, but a group is more than one person, so English allows one to say A group of boys are playing football. The classroom teacher is being too pedantic. – Nov 25 '15 at 14:25
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+1 Sounds right, however along the same line I always felt confused by f.ex. ... police have arrested... which I see all the time in the news; I would be more inclined to say ... police has arrested... . I understand that police is not one person but several, but the same can be definitely said of group , and yet we use has for group but have for police. What's the catch ? – SantiBailors Nov 25 '15 at 16:11
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@SantiBailors - my guess is that the possible trend could be to use "the police has" (definite article before "police") when referring to "the police" in general, as an institution, and "police have" (zero article before "police") when referring so some subgroup of the police, a group of policemen. (I'm a non-native speaker) – CowperKettle Nov 25 '15 at 16:51
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Would you say that 'a group of people feel' or 'a group of people feels'? Because as an L1 speaker the former definitely sounds more natural. – Kris Nov 25 '15 at 16:59
We definitely know that Trix are for Kids. – Nov 25 '15 at 18:33
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-1 -- Since I downvoted this answer out of my usual way of voting, and I rarely downvote anything (anyone can check my stats), it deserves a little explanation why I chose to downvote this answer. Normally, I would leave answers which are not exactly right but also not exactly wrong alone. This answer falls into that category. It's not exactly wrong, but because it's focused only on a group (of boys) is (I don't know why it was formatted as code), evading the issue of *a group of boys are*, which in my opinion is the crux of the question, it could be misleading. – Damkerng T. Nov 25 '15 at 20:49
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(con't) I was hoping that a more correct answer would come along sooner or later, and overcome this answer, but when I revisited this question again some minutes ago, this answer has gotten 11 upvotes, which is okay, votes are opinion-based, not correctness-based, but what would our site become if it's full of "not quite right" or "sorta correct" answers? I hope MaulikV will understand this downvote of mine. -- For any learner who has Practical English Usage, 3rd ed., here is an example from 526.2: *A group of us are going to take a boat through the French canals*. – Damkerng T. Nov 25 '15 at 20:50
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People actually use both, I think: https://goo.gl/zI9MI5 – Nov 26 '15 at 03:41
@Kris added in my answer. – Maulik V Nov 26 '15 at 12:26
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@DamkerngT. When it comes to English(es) "sorta correct" is really the best that one can do. Now many on the other hands... – Nov 27 '15 at 23:28

score 11 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:11

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The answer depends on what you want to further assert about that group.

A group of boys are playing football together. ["is" would be wrong or at least very weird here!]

A group of boys are/is playing football on the field. ["is" and "are" mean slightly different things.]

There is only one group of boys playing football on the field. ["are" would be wrong here!]

In general, a group can be viewed as a single unit or as its individuals. The context may allow only one viewpoint, as in the first and third example, or it may allow both viewpoints, as in the second example. Accordingly, you have to decline the verb based on which viewpoint you use. So even the second example must further split depending on the wider context.

Who are playing football on the field? A group of boys are playing on the field.

What is that group of boys doing on the field? That group of boys is playing on the field.

In these two examples above, people normally follow the original viewpoint of the question unless it is necessary to change it, so it would be very unusual to use the opposite number (singular/plural) for the verb, although I think it is still grammatical.

edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:11

Community

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answered Nov 25 '15 at 14:15

user21820

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"A group ... are" sounds dumb. "A" refers to a singular thing. – Nov 25 '15 at 18:45
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I think group is often used as a singular thing and so it's less obvious but is more obvious if you consider "A pair of boys is/are playing football together." Even though 'A pair' can be a singular thing the phrase "A pair of boys is playing football together" sounds very strange to me. – Pace Nov 25 '15 at 19:48
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@nocomprende: As an L1 English speaker, "A group of boys are playing together" is absolutely correct, and "A group of boys is playing together" is absolutely incorrect. Both are grammatically correct, but only the first one is semantically correct (because of the word "together" which denotes plurality). You are free to think that correct English grammar "sounds dumb" if you want, it does not change the fact that it is correct. – Dietrich Epp Nov 25 '15 at 23:30
@DietrichEpp: Thank you for confirming my native-speaker intuition. Sometimes there's really no way to know whether what I say is accepted by the majority of other native speakers until they say the same. =) – user21820 Nov 26 '15 at 05:55
@DietrichEpp The ELL group is having a discussion. The company is going out of business. That couple is being indiscreet. "I am unanimous in this." (from the TV show Are You Being Served :-) To user21820 - I am a native speaker also. – Nov 27 '15 at 23:22
@nocomprende: You're missing the point. All your examples fit the viewpoint of the group as a whole. You thus can use the singular. However, as in my first example, it would be wrong to use the singular, simply because the viewpoint there is of the individuals in the group, which are many. You may be able to always find another way to express the same meaning, but in this particular way there is no choice. – user21820 Nov 28 '15 at 00:16
So, I guess it depends on whether they are playing together or on a field. Makes it a bit complex to spit the sentence out spontaneously. Perhaps we need a language that is less particular. Such languages exist. – Nov 29 '15 at 16:15
@nocomprende: Well logic was invented to give us a way to say things precisely. Unfortunately, logical languages also make many restrictions, and even languages purposely designed for ordinary use haven't been able to take hold as a global language, not yet at least. – user21820 Nov 29 '15 at 16:21
Ah! The light goes on! The Answer to another Question says to avoid the passive. So, we now have the proper way of phrasing the situation: The field is played on by a group of boys. Gosh, why did no one point that out before? – Nov 29 '15 at 16:22
@nocomprende: Are you joking? The English passive is very unwieldy and no one considers it smooth... Besides, to convey the continuous tense you would need to say "The field is being played on ...", but please don't! – user21820 Nov 29 '15 at 16:31
A Grammarian, a Teacher and a Skier walks in to a bar... – Nov 29 '15 at 16:35

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 25 '15 at 16:52

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As an antidote do all the people saying 'group is singular, therefore you should use is', here's a Language Log post by Geoff Pullum arguing against plural agreement for quantificational uses of mass nouns.

As a L1 (British) English speaker, I would definite use are over is.

answered Nov 25 '15 at 16:52

Kris

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Your choice is fine in most cases but not in special cases such as the third example in my answer. There is also an explanation why some native speakers prefer the plural verb when it occurs after the noun phrase. It is called attraction, where the number of the verb (and case in other languages) sometimes gets attracted to the adjacent noun phrase if that adjacent noun phrase actually does refer to the actual subject. This attraction of course only makes a difference when the actual subject and the adjacent noun phrase have different number, like in "a group of boys are...". – user21820 Nov 26 '15 at 06:03
@user21820: I would argue that your third example is definitely not a quantificational usage ;) – Kris Nov 26 '15 at 10:18
That's strange. It certainly is. In first-order logic it says "There exists a unique group of boys G such that G is playing football on the field.", as opposed to more than one different group of boys. – user21820 Nov 26 '15 at 14:07

score 5 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:11

1 Your ear is right. Sometimes we make the verb agree with the closest noun, even if that noun is not the subject of the sentence. This is true especially with longer sentences, when the actual subject is far away from the verb.

As an example of this, in A Comprehensive Grammar to the English Language, the authors give several examples, including

The President, with his advisors, are preparing a statement on the crisis.

This may not be grammatically correct, but on the basis of proximity, it is something that many might say and believe correct, because it sounds better.

Your sentence sounds even worse to me (native speaker of American English) in the past tense:

a. A group of boys was playing in the yard. (sounds yucky)
b. A group of boys were playing in the yard.

(a) is okay, because was agrees with group (considered as a singular noun), and many teachers and speakers will prescribe that this is the only correct usage.

But to many native speakers
(b) is also okay, because of two reasons. First, boys is the nearest noun and, as you say, the sentence can sound off/wrong to some when they use a singular verb next to the plural boys.

And, second, there is a more technical answer:

2 With words such as group there is a special use:

Collecting noun phrases (a bunch of, a group of, a set of, etc.) take either a singular or plural verb, depending on whether the emphasis is on the individual units or on the group as whole:

A group of boys were digging in my flower beds!
A set of 12 dishes is all you need for the dinner party.

From Grammar Bite: Making Subjects and Verbs Agree

I have to disagree. Matching the "closest noun" may "sound right", but doesn't make sense. Consider, "The father of two boys was/were talking." Would you say it should be "were" because "boys" is closer to the verb than "father" and "boys" is plural? But that makes no sense. Only one person is talking: the father. — Jay, Nov 30 '15 at 14:49
@Jay *This is true especially with longer sentences, when the actual subject is far away from the verb.* Quirk et al gives as an example: The President, with his advisors, are* preparing a statement on the crisis.* This may not be grammatically correct, but on the basis of proximity (advisors with are), it is something that many might say and believe correct, because it sounds better. I have added this example to my answer. — , Nov 30 '15 at 22:00

score -1 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 25 '15 at 16:35

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English is not my mother tongue. Dutch is. But according to my english teacher, one should look at the subject of the sentence.

A group of boys is/are playing football

Who is/are playing football?

A group of boys.

A group of boys is actually singular. We are talking about a single group here. So the verb used on this subject should be singular too.

This makes: a group of boys is playing football.

answered Nov 25 '15 at 16:35

PieterVK

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This makes sense because it is possible to pluralize it: two groups of boys are* playing, one group plays football, the other soccer.* – Nov 25 '15 at 18:42
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L1 English speaker here. This answer is incorrect. "A group of X" can either be grammatically plural or singular in the English language. I believe that there are two parallel ways to parse it: you can either make "X" the head or you can make "group" the head, and the only way to know the correct one is by thinking of the semantics. This is a bit confused by the prescriptivists who are over-eager to apply simple rules. I am firmly a descriptivist, however, and this answer is incorrect w.r.t. how English is actually written and spoken. I believe that Chicago style guide agrees with me. – Dietrich Epp Nov 25 '15 at 23:39

score -3 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 25 '15 at 16:42

I understand that conventions on this are different in the UK than in the US. But speaking of REAL English, like we speak it here in America ... :-)

Your teacher is correct: "a group is". Yes, it may sound strange to you to say "boys is" together, but that's just a coincidence of the way the words in the sentence were ordered. The subject is not "boys", but "group".

Consider this sentence: "The man who owns three houses is tall." Would you think that you should use "are" instead of "is" because "houses" is plural? No, because the subject of the sentence is not "houses", but "man". The man is tall; it is not the houses that are tall.

Same thing here. Grammatically, it is not the "boys" who are playing football, but the "group". Yes, in real life the "group" and the "boys" are the same thing, but GRAMMATICALLY they are distinct.

A group of boys is/are

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