collective nouns

[Danahako]

choose the right verb:
in the latest trade union vote the majority has/have voted to go on strike.

[Alan]

Hi,

Either will do. It depends whether you consider the majority as a single entity (has voted} or as a group of individual people (have voted).

Alan
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[Danahako]

hey...
In the exercise i have to deside which answer fit most....
in Q like this where i have majority its accepted to see them as a single entity or individaul ppl?
thank you very much...
dana:)

[Mister Micawber]

.
Correct me if I am wrong, Alan, but doesn't BrE prefer singular where AmE usually uses singular? (Or is that just for sports teams?) In which case the origin of your test may determine your choice, danahako. As Alan says, both are right.

Another way to consider the choice is whether the group is doing the same thing as a group ('Our family is going to Europe this summer') or interacting within the group ('Our family are always arguing about where to vacation').

A third consideration is countability: 'A majority of my friends are gay'; 'A majority of the forest has been destroyed'.
.
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[Alan]

Hi,

I think here an insistence on it being singular is more likely with the 'It is I brigade'. By the way, Charles, your sentence: 'A majority of the forest has been destroyed' sounds strange to me but I can't honestly say why. I would go for 'a greater part'.

Alan
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[Mister Micawber]

.
Yes, me too-- or 'a major part'.
.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's