There was/were a group of students

[subhajit123]

Are the following sentences correct?

1- There was a group of students in the playground.

2- There were a group of students in the playground.

3- A group of students were detained by the police.

4- A group of students was detained by the police.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

Re: Plural or singular verbs with collective nouns?

The treatment of collective nouns is one of the differences between BrE and AmE. From a strictly AmE perspective:

1. This one sounds natural, but we would say on the playground, not in.

2. This one sounds wrong to me.

3. This is okay. You can drop the article before police.

4. Not okay

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Plural or singular verbs with collective nouns?

Responses from a BrE perspective:

1. "... in the playground" is what we say. "There is" before "a group" is more common but you'll hear "There are" too.
2. The definite article would generally be included.
3. The use of "was" in the fourth is OK.

 

[Rover_KE]

Please note that I have changed your thread title.

Extract from the Posting Guidelines:

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'