User:Kmweber/Collective nouns

Collective nouns are a point of some disagreement.

When collective nouns are used to refer to the individual members of an organization, collectively, there is no disagreement that it should be treated as a plural. The disagreement comes when the same noun is used to refer to the organization itself--especially if it ends in an "s".

For example, "The Indianapolis Colts is a football team" or "The Indianapolis Colts are a football team", where "Indianapolis Colts" is referring to the organization as an entity in and of itself, rather than Manning, Wayne, and Harrison, et al.