Question about a single event with a plural ending

Question

Let's take the Golden Globes for example. Which of these is correct?

The Golden Globes are getting a lot of attention.

vs.

The Golden Globes is getting a lot of attention.

As a single event, my brain tells me it's the latter. The former sounds so much better though. Which is it?

R Mac · Answer 1 · 2018-12-19T12:16:39.013

4

The Golden Globes is a proper noun. It is the name of a televised event, which is taken from the name of the award it grants: golden globes. When you say "The Golden Globes", you are not actually referring to anything plural; you don't actually mean "the golden globes", as in a singular collection of gilded spheres. You are referring to a television program most likely or else the award ceremony itself. Thus, you use the singular form of modifiers.

"The Golden Globes is getting a lot of attention," refers to the televised event, while, "The Golden Globes are important within the industry," refers to the actual awards (the aformentioned gilded spheres).

edited Dec 19 '18 at 12:16

answered Dec 19 '18 at 05:50

R Mac

3,598

+1, and I liked your gilded aside. – Lawrence Dec 19 '18 at 06:11
+1 - you've got to fight your instincts sometimes with proper nouns. – Balaz2ta Dec 19 '18 at 06:36
This answer lacks supporting evidence – Mari-Lou A Dec 19 '18 at 12:19
1

Do you really want me to link to a source that defined "singular" and "plural"? The evidence offered in my answer is a reasoned explanation. Take it or leave it. If you'd rather argue for precedent, then present that evidence. – R Mac Dec 19 '18 at 15:47

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

I think it's pointlessly prescriptivist to insist that the usage that feels natural to you is "incorrect", but I guess that R Mac's answer and the responses to it provide some evidence that singular agreement may be a safer choice if you're trying to minimize the chances of your word usage being criticized. (If that's your goal, though, I wonder if it would be best to just go with "Golden Globe Awards" and plural agreement or "Golden Globe Awards ceremony" and singular agreement.)

To be clear, I'm not saying that singular agreement is incorrect: I'm saying I don't see why either usage should be considered incorrect—although I would imagine that any style guide would recommend consistency, since that's often thought of as a virtue in the context of grammatical issues like this.

There's no theoretical principle of linguistics that requires that a proper noun referring to a conceptually singular entity (or event) has to take singular verb agreement. There are many examples of "illogical" verb agreement that are undeniably part of standard English, such as "more than one is...".

That said, English speakers do seem to find the "logical" argument for singular verb agreement compelling for some reason.

Plural agreement with "The Golden Globes" is attested in various places online:

Within the entertainment industry, the Golden Globes are considered second in importance both

"Golden Globe Award", by John M. Cunningham, https://www.britannica.com/art/Golden-Globe-Award
"Where the Golden Globes Are Great: Highlighting New TV Shows", by Liz Shannon Miller, IndieWire

But there are also various examples of singular agreement. I don't know how to find out which one is more common, or whether there is some pattern to the distribution that would tell us what kind of people use plural vs. singular agreement.

Question about a single event with a plural ending

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