is or are?

[curlyperm]

there's a possibility that is already been asked, but every Saturday night it drives me to DESPAIR when i hear Philip Scofield say 'The next couple voted to stay IS.....' surely to god its the next couple voted to stay ARE...
one person is .........IS
two persons or more ........ARE?
i know theres probably no right or wrong it just drives me crackers x

[Kingsway]

A couple is singular, so is an is.

Two persons is plural, so are an are.

[johntrevor]

Is is correct. Two couples would be `are`.

[joko]

a couple is classed as a single entity so it is 'is'

its the same way as a group or gang or band or troupe etc, they may be many people but together they are known as a single entity under one name.

[lankeela]

Then would you say 'The Beatles is No. 1'?

[THECORBYLOON]

If two folk out of a group were going somewhere, would you not say a couple of them were going somewhere?

[joko]

i think it depends on what you mean by the word couple.

if you mean 2 people in a relationship - or merely 2 of something

2 people in a couple, who are a couple as opposed to just two people become singular

but 2 oranges or 2 boats never become a couple in a singular sense, it just means theres 2 boats.

if PS was going to name the two members individually then he would say 'are' but if he was just calling them by their collective name such as 'stardrops' it would be is - though 'the hendersons' would be 'are'.
the hendersons is descriptive though not really a title as such
it would appear though, as lankeea said, that the 'the' seems to change it.

i suppose it depends how you see a band too - as 4 blokes or as one thing - for instance if you know 'the streets' is just one guy you would indeed say 'the streets is number one' - but that is because you are know that he is singular, despite his name sounding like theres more - if you didn't know and thought there were loads of them you would say 'are'.

perhaps as curly says there is no definitive right and wrong and so many factors can alter it.

cor blimey, i know what i mean but i am bu99ered if i can say it...lol

[Quizmonster]

It's perfectly straightforward, Curlyperm...
"In British English collective nouns may be correctly followed by a singular or a plural verb. In American English it is customary for a singular verb to be used with collective nouns." (Emphasis mine.)
These aren't my words but those of Fowler's Modern English Usage, the 'bible' of current usage.
Scofield is quite correct in using 'is', but he'd be equally correct if he used 'are'!

[curlyperm]

ah well that IS the end of that then! : ) thanks everyone, it is now as clear as mud! lol

[jenstar]

Clearly Mr Schofield is grammatically correct - but it does sound weird! That's what happens when pedantry gets in the way.

[Quizmonster]

I'm not sure whether your use of the word 'pedantry' was in reference to the quote I offered from Fowler's Modern English Usage (FMEU), Jenstar, but - if it was - you could scarcely be further from the truth.
As the book's title suggests, it outlines how we actually use the language rather than presenting a set of dusty rules laid down by some Victorian grammarian. The latter would be pedantry, but the plain fact is that we do on a day-to-day basis use either singular or plural verbs with collectives just as the mood takes us.
"The jury retires to consider its verdict later today"...or..."The jury retire to consider their verdict later today", for example, are both perfectly acceptable. Pedantry doesn't come into it.