Why is "are" used in the following sentence? Camel are an English progressive rock band formed in 1971.

Ilona_Ritter

I would guess "are" is used because it's refering to a band which is plural in nature since a band is a group. But I'm not sure. Aug 06 06, 7:05 PM

zbeckabee

However, though consisting of multiple parts the BAND is singular and I would think it should read "Camel IS an English..." Now, if one were to say, "The members of Camel" that would be ARE. Kind of like: A cup is Ounces are Aug 06 06, 7:17 PM

lanfranco

This name of a musical group is a collective noun, which can and should be used with a singular verb: http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/collectivenoun.htm Aug 06 06, 7:35 PM

elburcher

Or if the sentence was "The Camel are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1971." The same way that you used to see early Pink Floyd and a lot of other bands in 60's and 70's refered to as "The Pink Floyd", "Led Zeppelin" or "The whomever" now it's fallen out of favor and its common to drop the "The" from musical group names. Aug 06 06, 11:18 PM

Meldrewman

Because bad grammar is being used - it should be "is" Aug 07 06, 2:22 AM

vale70

It is not bad grammar, but British usage. In British English, nouns that describe multiple people (e.g. police etc) are treated as plural, and the verb is accordingly plural. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/grammar/archive/collective_nouns.html Aug 07 06, 3:02 AM

BungeeAZ

I think the sentence is incorrect because even though Camel is comprised of a group of people (i.e., the musicians in the band), it is one unit. Therefore, as one unit, the infinitive verb "to be" should be conjugated as "is" and not "are". Camel is an English prog rock band formed in 1971. Kiss is a rock band from New York. Gene and Paul are song writers. Journey is on tour. Mary is going to the store. Gimbels and Dillards are defunct department stores. Aug 07 06, 3:37 PM

Gnomon

vale70 has the right answer. Aug 07 06, 4:12 PM

uclageographer

I think vale70 has the right answer too! Aug 07 06, 4:56 PM