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My question is about whether proper nouns (used as the subject of a sentence) should be considered as singular or plural. The proper nouns "The United States" and "The Duck Variations" are the name of a country founded in 1776 and the name of a play written by David Mamet in 1972. I believe it is correct to write "The United States was founded in 1776", because "The United States" is a proper noun used as a singular phrase, even though it is a collection of states. Similarly "The Duck Variations" is a play for the theatre, written as a single work consisting of 14 short acts which are always performed together.

My question is, do I write "The Duck Variations was written in 1972" or "The Duck Variations were written in 1972"? The plural form seems correct, but I cannot find any rule saying which should be used. Also if the plural is correct, what rule distinguishes the usage of the proper nouns "The United States" and "The Duck Variations"?

I have already looked at:

Can the name of a country be considered a plural noun, as a collective of e.g. its citizens? which leads on to Are collective nouns always plural, or are certain ones singular?

Pluralization of proper nouns: regular or irregular?

Collective nouns with plural verbs: the 'American practice/s' versus the 'British practice/s'

This final article seems the most relevant, although it does not answer my question:

"Are" vs. "is" for proper nouns which sound plural (such as band names)

Ubercoder
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    Titles of things considered to be "entities" are usually treated as *singular* nouns, but there are exceptions and "grey" areas (for example, in the UK, "the government" or a company name such as "Microsoft" may be singular OR plural, whereas in the US they're both almost always singular). – FumbleFingers Dec 06 '21 at 14:53
  • I would use the singular for The Duck Variations (and it should properly be italicized, which emphasizes that it's a singular title). I realize that Wikipedia is not a formal reference, but it definitely uses the singular in this specific case. – Canadian Yankee Dec 06 '21 at 15:01
  • How do you feel about The book ‘The Duck Variations’ was written in 1972. – Jim Dec 06 '21 at 15:02
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    I would use the singular referring to the work or the collection; however, "Most of X's Variations on a Theme by Y are playable by the gifted amateur pianist." Without the "Most of," singular or plural works for me, but perhaps the singular is better. – DjinTonic Dec 06 '21 at 15:07
  • Based on the comments it seems useful to distinguish "entities". Thus countries, companies and organisations ("The United States", "The United Kingdom", "The World Customs Organisation" etc) are generally treated as singular. Plays and bands are more problematic. Using the singular for "The Duck Variations" looks OK but there are problems with for example "The Rolling Stones", "The Beatles" etc. Surely it should be "The Rolling Stones were formed in 1962", "The Beatles were formed in 1960" etc. – Ubercoder Dec 06 '21 at 15:09
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    @Ubercoder You've linked to a question about band names. Whether you use is or are for The Duck Variations really depends on whether you're referring to the work as a whole, or the set of individual variations: "The Duck Variations is a play of several acts"; "The Duck Variations are incomprehensible." – Andrew Leach Dec 06 '21 at 15:12
  • Both plurailities sound fine to me (as a Brit, which may be significant) in something like The Enigma Variations was / were* written between October 1898 and February 1899. My choice would basically come down to whether I was thinking of them collectively* (Fish and chips is* a firm favourite in the UK)* or individually (Fish and meat are* not for vegans)*. – FumbleFingers Dec 06 '21 at 15:13
  • I'm more concerned with proper nouns than with collective nouns. If we are talking about the proper noun as a whole, is it correct to write "The Duck Variations was written in 1972" but "The Rolling Stones were formed in 1962"? (Assuming I am discussing the entire play, the entire band etc). – Ubercoder Dec 06 '21 at 15:29
  • I am wondering if the "rule" is this: 1. If the proper noun is an entity (company, country, organisation etc) then treat as a singular. 2. If the proper noun is a group, band, performance then treat as singular or plural depending on the s/p nature of the words of the proper noun. Eg "The Duck Variations were formed in 1972", "The Rolling Stones are a well known band", "Eminem is a well known artist" etc. – Ubercoder Dec 06 '21 at 15:31
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    I think this does adequately address your question: "Are" vs. "is" for proper nouns which sound plural (such as band names) – Edwin Ashworth Dec 06 '21 at 15:44
  • Google 4-grams show that "the Enigma Variations were" is used, but flatline for "the Enigma Variations was". This probably indicates that proximity agreement usually prevails in this particular case. However, the few relevant hits for either in a Google search probably indicates that the issue is usually sidestepped. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 06 '21 at 15:47
  • Yeah, I think the accepted answer on @EdwinAshworth's suggestion hits the nail on the head: "The official rule is: if it acts as a singular unit, it gets a singular congugation; if it acts as a group of individuals viewed individually, it gets a plural congugation. There is no difference between common and proper nouns." Which of course allows for some gray areas. Are the Canterbury Tales a unit or a collection? Aesop's Fables? The book of Proverbs? – Andy Bonner Dec 06 '21 at 15:59
  • I've found very plausible online examples affording both (a) singular and (b) plural agreement to the plural-form compound proper noun "Enigma Variations", so as a user of notional/'logical' agreement (and in the UK), I'd use whichever seemed the more sensible. 'The Enigma Variations are series of 14 short musical portraits by Edward Elgar' vs 'The Enigma Variations was Elgar's first great success'. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 06 '21 at 16:02
  • @EdwinAshworth What about the even more famous "Goldberg Variations"? It's funny, I would think of the Enigma as an indivisible unit. Not sure what I think about Goldberg, tbh. – Andy Bonner Dec 06 '21 at 16:04
  • @Andy Bonner (re your second-to-latest comment) Some don't subscribe fully to notional agreement. But few ("... Red Sox are ...") avoid it entirely. // I've not used "Goldberg Variations" even in speech for over 50 years. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 06 '21 at 16:04
  • @EdwinAshworth Well now I'm curious. Looks like they, ahem, it?, are/is singular. Most of the time. – Andy Bonner Dec 06 '21 at 16:11

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