Agreement with collective nouns
Treat collective nouns as singular unless the meaning is clearly plural.
Collective nouns such as jury, committee, audience, crowd, class, troop, family, and couple name a class or a group. In American English, collective nouns are usually treated as singular: They emphasize the group as a unit.
SINGULAR
Occasionally, when there is some reason to draw attention to the individual members of the group, a collective noun may be treated as plural.
PLURAL
To underscore the notion of individuality in the second sentence, many writers would add a clearly plural noun:
The board as a whole meets; there is no reason to draw attention to its individual members.
The meaning is clearly plural. Only individuals can argue and hold hands.
For a global audience:Collective nouns are treated as plural in British English. If you are writing for an international audience, you need to be alert to audience expectations for usage.
Subject-verb agreement at a glance
When to use the -s (or -es) form of a present-tense verb
Exercises:
Subject-verb agreement 1
Subject-verb agreement 2
Subject-verb agreement 3
Subject-verb agreement 4
Related topic:
Pronoun-antecedent agreement with collective nouns