Grammaticaly correct

[beejaybee]

Should it be "The couple is" or "The couple are" ??? beejaybee.

[Gulyasgirl]

Definitely in plural. There are some other words without an -s suffix, but still with a plural meaning, e.g. police, people, etc. If that makes a difference, I have been studying linguistics. ....not meaning to show off though :)

[beejaybee]

Thank you for your replies. beejaybee

[LeoMunro]

You're most welcome QM.

By the way, how many angels could dance on the head of a pin?

[bricro]

There are a lot of singular nouns which sound plural ( or should this be there IS A lot!).

eg., Army,government,team,bank.

What is important is that the meaning should be clear and unambiguous. PC Rules OK!.

For sale table by lady with carved legs!

[jno]

LeoMunro one dance troupe of angels is/are able to fit on the head of a pin.

[robbo82]

The same applies to football teams: technically, I'm sure they should be singular, eg 'Manchester United is everyone's least favourite team', yet most people treat it as plural and say 'Man Utd are everyone's least favourite team'.

[BetsyLou]

Gulyasgirl, i'm not sure what you mean.. Most linguists, I think, would say that prescriptive rules are unhelpful (and basically what QM and others have stated above along those lines); personally i've spent a fair old while studying the subject, and have done some research into epicene pronouns which included looking at number agreement in sentences... :)