grammatical number - If collective nouns use the plural verb form, are they plural in other contexts too?



According to Wikipedia, in British English, it is generally accepted that collective nouns can take either singular or plural verb forms. How does this affect their property of being singular or plural in other grammatical contexts? We use plural verb forms, but do we then also use plural personal pronouns?


For example:



England have won the World Cup!



Now is/are England actually plural, or is/are England just used with the plural verb form without being plural in other grammatical contexts?



I am sailing to England themselves



or



I am sailing to England itself?



Which one is correct, and why?



Answer




I am sailing to England itself.



This is the correct usage. England, in the context of the country, is not a collective noun--it is a single country. In the context of the population, England can be used as plural.


The example given on the wikipedia page is "The team is/are in the dressing room". A good test for whether or not plural and singular are interchangeable: add "the constituent members of" before the noun. If the sentence still makes sense, it is ok make plural.



The constituent members of the team are in the dressing room.
The constituent members of England have won the competition.



These are okay sentences.



I am sailing to the constituent members of England themselves.



This doesn't make sense.


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