Question

The rescue team __________ in the region that was hit by the recent earthquake.
A) Are
B) Were
C) Was
D) Will

Answer 1

Hint: It is advised to be well versed with the subject-verb agreements. It is essential for a student to be aware of the collective nouns and the rules.

Complete answer:
The collective noun takes a singular verb while referring to it as a unit, but while referring to the individuals/ parts of the group then we must use the plural form of a verb. In the given sentence, ‘The rescue team’ is a subject, the verb is the word following the subject, ‘in the region’ is the object, while the predicate is ‘the region that was hit by the recent earthquake’. In the above given sentence, ‘The rescue team’ is a collective noun of the sentence, The collective noun takes a singular verb while referring it as a unit, but while referring to the individuals/ parts of the group then we must use the plural form of a verb. But here, we are referring to the team of rescue as a whole therefore, we should use singular form of the verb.

Option A- ‘Are’ must not be used, because ‘are’ is a plural present continuous form of the verb. Therefore, option A is incorrect.
Option B- ‘were’ must not be used, because ‘were’ is a plural form of the verb. Therefore, option B is incorrect.
Option C- ‘was’ is a singular form of the verb, therefore this can be used in the sentence. Therefore, this is the answer.
Option D- ‘will’ is a part of simple future tense, therefore it must not be used as we are talking about the past.

Hence the correct answer is option (C).

Note: Collective nouns can be used as a singular noun or as a plural noun, therefore it is essential to find out what the form of the noun and accordingly have the words following it.
a) The class (it is considered as a unit that’s why we consider it a singular noun) was eagerly waiting for their new teacher.
b) The class monitors (here, it is used as a plural form) were summoned by the principal.