**JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION, THIS IS NOT AN ESSAY. NO NEED FOR INTRODUCTION AND CONCLUSION.
In the reading we saw a discussion of collective nouns that American and British English differ in terms of subject-verb agreement when the subject includes a collective noun.
The family is here. (American English)
The family are here. (British English)
Think about how subject-verb agreement works in the following:
A gaggle of geese is flying overhead.
A bunch of people are standing on the corner.
Do these sentences sound natural to you? If so, what does that tell you about subject-verb agreement when the subject include a collective noun? Now, think about the one:
None of the students were happy about the exam.
Does this sound natural to you? How about:
None of the students was happy about the exam.
The second sentence with “none”, which has the singular form of the verb, is considered prescriptively correct. Based on these examples, does prescriptive grammar match your intuitions about agreement in these sentences? Why or why not?
