Collective nouns + activity task

Definition: Names a group or unit. Collective nouns may be either common or proper.
Examples: United States, congress, faculty, department, audience, team, crowd, herd, army, airforce, navy, police, people, majority, minority, council, company, jury, family, committee, society, public, school, crew, swarm, shoal, cattle and flock.

Each noun from the list above is a single thing. That thing, however, is made up of more than one person. You cannot have a committee, team, or family of one; you need at least two people who compose the unit.

Collective nouns can be either singular or plural, depending on context. But how do you tell if a collective noun is singular or plural? What verbs and pronouns do you use with the collective noun?

Here is the key: Imagine a flock of pigeons pecking at birdseed on the ground. Suddenly, a cat races out of the bushes. What do the pigeons do? They fly off as a unit in an attempt to escape the predator, wheeling through the sky in the same direction.

People often behave in the same manner, doing one thing in unison with the other members of their group. If these people are part of a collective noun, that noun becomes singular and requires singular verbs and pronouns.

As you read the following examples, notice that all members of the collective noun are doing the same thing at the same time:

1)Every afternoon the baseball team follows its coach out to the hot field for practice.
Team = singular; follows = a singular verb; its = a singular pronoun. All members of the team arrive at the same place at the same time.

2)Today, Dr. Ribley's class takes its first 100-item exam.
Class = singular; takes = a singular verb; its = a singular pronoun. All members of the class are testing at the same time.

3)The jury agrees that the state prosecutors did not provide enough evidence, so its verdict is not guilty.
Jury = singular; agrees = a singular verb; its = a singular pronoun. All members of the jury are thinking the same way.

Now imagine three house cats in the living room. Are the cats doing the same thing at the same time? Not this group! One cat might be sleeping on top of the warm television. Another might be grooming on the sofa. A third animal might be perched on the windowsill, watching the world outside. There is one group of animals, but the members of that group are all doing their own thing.

Members of collective nouns can behave in a similar fashion. If the members are acting as individuals, the collective noun is plural and requires plural verbs and pronouns. As you read these examples, notice that the members of the collective noun are not acting in unison:

1)After the three-hour practice under the brutal sun, the team shower, change into their street clothes, and head to their air-conditioned homes.
Team = plural; shower, change, head = plural verbs; their = a plural pronoun. The teammates are dressing into their individual outfits and leaving in different directions for their individual homes.

2)After the long exam, the class start their research papers on famous mathematicians.
Class = plural; start = a plural verb; their = a plural pronoun. The students are beginning their own research papers—in different places, at different times, on different mathematicians.

3)The jury disagree about the guilt of the accused and have told the judge that they are hopelessly deadlocked.
Jury = plural; disagree, have told = plural verbs; they = a plural pronoun. Not everyone on the jury is thinking the same way.

Whenever you cannot decide if a collective noun is singular or plural, exercise your options as a writer. You have two ways that you can compose the sentence without causing an agreement error:
1) insert the word members after the collective noun [jury members, committee members, board members], or
2) use an entirely different word [players instead of team, students instead of class, soldiers instead of army]. Then you can use plural verbs and pronouns without worrying about making mistakes or sounding unnatural.

Now, I'd like you to compose 6 sentences using 6 collective nouns. Use 3 collective nouns as singular and another 3 as plural.

phrasal verbs (Definition + Come)

A phrasal verb is a verb plus a preposition or adverb which creates a meaning different from the original verb.
Example:
I ran into my teacher at the movies last night. (run + into = meet)
He ran away when he was 15. (run + away = leave home)

Some phrasal verbs are intransitive. An intransitive verb cannot be followed by an object.
Example:
He suddenly showed up. "show up" cannot take an object

Some phrasal verbs are transitive. A transitive verb can be followed by an object.
Example:
I made up the story. "story" is the object of "make up"

Some transitive phrasal verbs are separable. The object is placed between the verb and the preposition. In the Phrasal Verb Dictionary, separable phrasal verbs are marked by placing a * between the verb and the preposition / adverb.
Example:
I talked my mother into letting me borrow the car.
She looked the phone number up.

Some transitive phrasal verbs are inseparable. The object is placed after the preposition. In the Phrasal Verb Dictionary, inseparable phrasal verbs are marked by placing a + after the preposition / adverb.

Example:
I ran into an old friend yesterday.
They are looking into the problem.

Some transitive phrasal verbs can take an object in both places. In the Phrasal Verb Dictionary, such phrasal verbs are marked with both * and +
Example:
I looked the number up in the phone book.
I looked up the number in the phone book.

WARNING! Although many phrasal verbs can take an object in both places, you must put the object between the verb and the preposition if the object is a pronoun.

Example:
I looked the number up in the phone book.
I looked up the number in the phone book.
I looked it up in the phone book. correct
I looked up it in the phone book. incorrect

Now have a look at the phrasal verbs that you can make with the verb "come".

1. Sometimes you keep something even though you don't need it at the time but because you think in the future it might 'come in useful'.
• Keep that. It might come in useful one day.
• I don't like learning English but it will come in useful when I get a job.

2. When something is falling, you can say that it is 'coming down'.
• The football match was stopped because the rain was coming down so heavily.
• Don't buy an Ipod yet. The prices will be coming down soon.

3. When a book is published, it 'comes out'.
• The magazine comes out once a month.
• My new book comes out in August.

4.If you 'come on to' a particular topic or idea, you start discussing it.
• Can we come on to the subject of parking?
• Before we come on to that, does anybody have any comments?

5. If you 'come across' something, you find it by accident.
• I came across these old photos when I was cleaning out my cupboard.
• She came across Richard in the middle of Oxford.

6. If a feeling 'comes over you', it affects you, often in an uncharacteristic way.
• I'm sorry for shouting. I don't know what came over me.
• A look of pleasure came over her face.

7. If a problem or situation 'comes up' it happens. (We can also say 'crops up'.)
• A big problem came up at work.
• Something has come up and I can't meet you.

8. If you 'come up with' a plan or idea, you think of it or suggest it.
• Peter came up with a good idea today.
• Can anybody come up with a solution?

9. If somebody 'comes across' as having a particular characteristic, they have given you the impression that they are like this.
• When you first meet Susan, she comes across as a shy person but in fact she is quite self-confident.
• Do you know that you come across as very arrogant?

10. When you are talking about the results of a situation, you can talk about what 'comes of' the situation.
• I'll let you know what comes of the meeting.
• No great harm came from it.

11. If an event or action 'comes off', it is successful or effective.
• I hope this high risk strategy comes off for us.
• I don't think it is going to come off.

12. If an idea 'comes upon' you, it develops without your really being aware of it.
• The idea came upon me when I was out walking the dog.
• I came upon the solution by pure chance.

Writing an accident report

Following our 2 lessons about accident reports, I'd like you to write a simple accident report and post it to me.

Make sure to cover the followings in your report.
1. At least 40 words
2. Use only past or past continuous form of the verb
3. Use at least 5 conjunctions
4. Date, time (am, pm) where and how the accident happend
5. Whether you were injured or not
6. What action did you take after accident happened