Angry Orchard's David Sipes Gets Samuel Adams to Try Cider. PORTLAND, Ore. ( TheStreet) -- When you grab a pint in almost any of New England's pubs, cider sits right beside stouts and lagers as a drink of choice. It's not a beer substitute, it's not there just for beer haters or vegans -- it just is.
collective noun. n. 1. (Grammar) a noun that is singular in form but that refers to a group of people or things. Usage: Collective nouns are usually used with singular verbs: the family is on holiday; General Motors is mounting a big sales campaign.
In this case, and with most collective nouns, Johnson can do either. But there may be reasons to prefer singular verb to plural or vice versa. If the collective noun really means no more than lots of, the plural is natural; if it retains some of its specific, unitary sense, the singular. Thus a raft of questions arise whenever a flock of swallows flies south.