<p>so all collective nouns (excluding each, every, neither, etc.) are plural? Like men, and women/
so you can say all men were created equal?
women are funny
stuff like that?
or would you still use a singular verb? this is stumping me.
also what is a predicate nomitive in dumbed down words?</p>
<p>“men” and “women” are plural for “man” and “woman,” so yes, they take plural verbs. Some collective nouns are singular and some collective nouns are plural in standard American English. (The usages vary among different parts of the world.) In America, words like “team,” “committee,” “department,” “family,” “company,” and “audience” tend to be singular and thus take singular verbs. However, sometimes what you are specifically talking about plays a role in whether the verb is singular or plural:
A number of people are walking down the street.
The number of people walking down the street is large.
In the first sentence, you are talking about people walking down the street. So you use the plural “are” since “people” is plural. (“A number of people” is another way of saying “A lot of people.”) In the second sentence, you are talking about the NUMBER of people and the size of that number, so you use the singular “is” since “number” is singular.</p>
<p>Constructions like “a number of” and “a lot of” generally lead to plural verbs (“a lot of people are here”; “a number of people are walking down the street”).</p>
<p>The predicate nominative is a noun that renames or describes the subject by means of a verb. For example, in He is a man, “man” is a noun that renames “he” (it tells you who “he” is) by means of the verb is.</p>