grammar debate, has or have

[ash_scotland88]

Hopefully a quick settle. What should it be?

....so far the Political Party X has won seats across Country Y
....so far the Political Party X have won seats across Country Y.

 

[Cleisthenes]

I would have used the first option

Whether I'm right or not is another thing entirely

(I think because Party X is singular, a little confusing as it's made up of numerous people but as a thing it is singular.)

 

[wez130]

Has

Though, i guess you could use either

 

[Tuppy_Glossop]

Has. The CP is the subject of the verb and is a collective proper noun, righlty taking the third person singular form.

 

[ash_scotland88]

I thought the latter, as refering to a group like that makes its sound plural.

 

[cheesyboy]

Isn't 'have' British English, and 'has' US English?

Or is it the other way around?

 

[Participant]

In the op's example I would use has. Collective pronouns when singular normally use has.

 

[ivrytwr3]

I'd use 'have'. However:

• Wife cannot distinguish between 'was' and 'were' - Sheffield lass

• and i cannot distinguish between 'been' and 'being' - i even go as far to rewrite a sentence to avoid been/being

 

[Elixir]

Hopefully a quick settle. What should it be?

....so far the Political Party X has won seats across Country Y
....so far the Political Party X have won seats across Country Y.

Could be either depending how you phrase the sentence.

The Conservative Party has won seats across Country Y.
The Conservatives have won seats across Country Y.

 

[touch]

• Wife cannot distinguish between 'was' and 'were' - Sheffield lass

My GF does this too.

For example,
Me: I was going to get your jacket.
Her: Oh, was you?

It makes logical sense, because you'd use 'have' in the same way:

Me: I have got your jacket
Her: Oh, have you?

It just sounds wrong

 

[Cleisthenes]

My GF does this too.

For example,
Me: I was going to get your jacket.
Her: Oh, was you?

It makes logical sense, because you'd use 'have' in the same way:

Me: I have got your jacket
Her: Oh, have you?

It just sounds wrong

It's almost like people in the north don't have english lessons in their schools

 

[builder22]

the advantage of having a broad accent/using lots of slang is that you can usually understand most people but those who speak properly need a translator

 

[Edrof]

'Has' generally follows a singular; 'have' generally follows a plural.

'Political party' is singular.

This has nothing to do with US or UK English.

 

[Wizzfizz]

Love these sort of threads, as they seem to bring out the best in peoples' grammar(fullstop)

 

[Flaevius]

Has: political party is one entity.

Have: if you were referring to, for example, members of the political party.

 

[ash_scotland88]

So the actual post was;

Results are coming in and so far the SNP has won across Scotland, sending a clear message -

Didn't want to turn this into a slagging match, as that's what politics eventually fall down to these day.

It's "did" and "done" I struggle with.

 

[cheesyboy]

This has nothing to do with US or UK English

Apparently, it does:

Generally, in American English, collective nouns take singular verbs. In British English, collective nouns are more often treated as plurals that take plural verbs.

https://www.dictionary.com/e/collective-nouns/

I even got it the right way round between US and UK! ( bit surprised)

 

[Edrof]

Interesting, thanks for that Cheesyboy. I completely disagree with that website though. Collective nouns and pluralisation most often seems to be a colloquialism or common usage issue.

 

[MrWhippy]

one way is correct and the other one isn't.
we can all sign up to being right or wrong but what's to debate?

 

[Rotty]

'Has' generally follows a singular; 'have' generally follows a plural.

'Political party' is singular.

This has nothing to do with US or UK English.

that's how I see it