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Example: There are many factors affecting teacher retention.
12. Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person but are considered
singular and take a singular verb. Some examples are "group," "team," "committee,"
"family," and "class."
Example: The group meets every week.
Example: The committee agrees on the quality of the writing.

However, the plural verb is used if the focus is on the individuals in the group. This is
much less common.
Example: The committee participate in various volunteer activities in their private
lives.
Exceptions
Rule 1. A subject will come before a phrase beginning with of. This is a key rule for
understanding subjects. The word of is the culprit in many, perhaps most, subject-verb
mistakes.
Hasty writers, speakers, readers, and listeners might miss the all-too-common mistake in
the following sentence:
Incorrect: A bouquet of yellow roses lend colour and fragrance to the room.
Correct: A bouquet of yellow roses lends colour and fragrance to the room. . . (bouquet
lends, not roses lend)
Rule 2. Two singular subjects connected by or, either/or, or neither/nor require a singular
verb.
Examples:
My aunt or my uncle is arriving by train today.
Neither Juan nor Carmen is available.
Either Kiana or Casey is helping today with stage decorations.
Rule 3. The verb in an or, either/or, or neither/nor sentence agrees with the noun or
pronoun closest to it.
Examples:
Neither the plates nor the serving bowl goes on that shelf.
Neither the serving bowl nor the plates go on that shelf.
This rule can lead to bumps in the road. For example,
if “I” is one of two (or more) subjects, it could lead to this odd sentence:
Awkward: Neither she, my friends, nor I am going to the festival.
If possible, it's best to reword such grammatically correct but awkward sentences.
Better:
Neither she, I, nor my friends are going to the festival.
Rule 4. As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are
connected by and.
Example: A car and a bike are my means of transportation.
But note these exceptions:
Exceptions:
Breaking and entering is against the law.
The bed and breakfast was charming.