Generation cause or causes

[Anna232]

This sentence is from my book English Grammar in Context by Michael Vince.
"Despite what people often say it seems to be the younger generation that causes most accidents."

The correct answer is "cause" but is this word also a collective noun? Can I use either "cause" or "causes" in American English? Is it used like "group," "crowd," "company," etc?

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, both 'causes' and 'cause' can be used there, depending on whether you're thinking of the younger generation as one thing or lots of people.

 

[Tarheel]

The last sentence has it exactly right except I would reverse the first two words and end with a period (full stop) instead of a question mark.

 

[5jj]

The last sentence has it exactly right except I would reverse the first two words

That makes no sense to me.

and end with a period (full stop) instead of an exclamation mark.

I see no exclamation mark.

 

[Tarheel]

@Anna232 I edited my post.

To answer your question more thoroughly, there is nothing wrong with the sentence in question. In American English "generation" is a collective noun like the others you mentioned.