Company names, use of "have" and "has"

Question

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Are collective nouns always plural, or are certain ones singular?

Should company names be followed by "has" or "have"? It depends on whether a company is treated as a singular proper-noun:

Samsung has gotten itself in a lot of trouble recently.

Or plural proper-noun:

Samsung have stated they don't imitate cooler products.

Are both acceptable?

Also related: Is “staff” plural?, Is the usage of “are” correct when referring to a team/group/band? — RegDwigнt, Aug 10 '12 at 11:51

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 05 '14 at 18:46

3

A company is a collective entity. When referring to a company by name, it is the overall entity that is being referenced. It is treated as a single thing for the purpose of verb (and pronoun) agreement.

While there are other collectives that may, at times be treated as a plural to reflect the multiplicty of the participants in the activity or characteristic, even when a company is a conglomerate of many smaller companies, the name use is singular.

Time-Warner collects revenue from all of its subsidiaries.

edited Oct 05 '14 at 18:46

tchrist

134,759

answered Aug 10 '12 at 11:41

bib

72,782

3

This is true in American English. However, in British English, "TimeWarner collect [...] from their [...]" is unobjectionable. See the question this has been closed as a duplicate of. – RegDwigнt Aug 10 '12 at 11:46
@RegDwight AAA - Thanks for the info on the distinction. – bib Aug 10 '12 at 12:03

Company names, use of "have" and "has"

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