English Grammer

[spritzer]

Helloo, can anyone tell me which would correct?

The government has approved a plan

or

The government have approved a plan

Thanks for your help

[lilyfrog]

"has"

I will allow someone better then me to explain why. As I am sure they will.

[delilahcat]

Agree with Lilyfrog, it's 'has'. This is because the word 'government' is a singular noun (even though a government is made up of lots of people).

Don't think I've explained that very well - can anyone help???

[:Ace:]

Personally I would say Have...Newsreaders and people say Have...so it must be right lol

[Clanad]

Actually, it's the definite article 'the' in the phrase that dictates the use of the correct adverb, which would be 'has'. If the phrase was "Those in government..." the correct adverb would be "have" but the word government did not change... "The", being a definite article, is used before singular and plural nouns that refer to a particular member of a group, whereas "those" is a determiner to be used with plural count nouns...

[Quizmonster]

"In British English, collective nouns may be correctly followed by either a singular or a plural verb."

The quote above is from Fowler's �Modern English Usage'. For generations, that publication has been recognised as the �bible' of what is acceptable. Here is a short extract from what the third edition (1996) has to say about grammatical concord...ie subject/verb agreement...
One illustration it quotes is: "Tarring and feathering was too good for Meakin" Theat sentence has a composite subject...ie apparently plural...yet it takes a singular verb-form.
Regarding collective noun subjects, it also offers amongst other examples: "Let us hope the Ministry of Defence are on our side this time."
Consider the following two sentences:
a. "At the end of a trial, the jury retire to consider their verdict."
b. "At the end of a trial, the jury retires to consider its verdict."
Is one of these correct and the other wrong? Of course not! Both are equally correct!
Someone may approach a bridge card-table and ask one of the players: "What's trumps?" The question he is obviously asking in his own head is: "Of the four suits in the pack, which individual one is the trump suit for this game?" (Clearly singular.)
The player may well reply: "Clubs are." The answer he is obviously providing in his own head is: "All the cards in the pack which are club-cards are trump cards." (Clearly plural.)
Given the opening quote above and the authoritative source it comes from, it is clear, Spritzer, that you are perfectly free to use either 'has' or 'have' in your example sentence. The horse's mouth itself - Fowler's - says so. End of story!

[Clanad]

Q, if I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times to not be so tentative... show some authoritativeness!

[BigMac]

May I be the pedant to point out that it should be 'English Grammar' in the title?

[Quizmonster]

You're right, C. I really must try to overcome this timidity of mine!

[snoopydizzle]

BigMac, may I also be a pedant in wondering why Spritzer is worried about grammar when "Helloo" and "which would correct" don't seem at all correct...?

[Hamish]

Now that my english has been improved I would like to say the both are nonsence, the idea that a government would actively do something ........?

[RogK]

Yes, don't forget that the only GrammEr is the bloke that plays Frasier.