Vatican *are*

Posted by Bob on April 01, 2005

In Reply to: Vatican *are* posted by ESC on April 01, 2005

: : Tonight a BBC announcer said 'The Vatican *are* concerned about the Pope's condition.' Wouldn't it have been better to substitute 'is' for 'are'?

: I am from the United States and I think it should be "is." But maybe there's some rule I don't know about.

British usage. The government are, management are, the Vatican are. Collections of people are treated as plurals; in the US as singulars. The team is excited. Somewhere in the mid-Atlantic it switches over.

• Vatican *are* Word Camel 01/April/05
  • Vatican *are* DRC 01/April/05
    • Vatican *are* Victoria S Dennis 06/April/05