English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
ONE RULE A DAY: NOTIONAL CONCORD
The crowd ~seem~ large (nonstandard).
The crowd seems large (standard).
The crowd ~was~ applauding the players (nonstandard).
The crowd were applauding the players (standard).
Notional concord applies to collective nouns (nouns that refer to an assembly of persons such as crowd, audience, club etc). These nouns could attract singular or plural verbs. They attract singular verbs when the group of persons is seen as a unit and is not performing an action, and the plural verb is preferred when the group is not seen in unity or when an action is being performed by the group.
GAB
