Vatican *are*

Posted by DRC on April 01, 2005

In Reply to: Vatican *are* posted by Word Camel 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.

: That's reassuring. I just thought I was losing my mind.

Doesn't it have something to do with "the royal WE"?

• Vatican *are* Victoria S Dennis 06/April/05