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Are companies/groups of people considered plural? What about their initialisms?

I'm unsure if I should use have (plural verb) or has (singular) in the following situations:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation have developed a prototype ...

or

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has developed a prototype ...

and when using just the initialism:

The FBI have ...

or

The FBI has ...

If I'm referring to the FBI as a group of people, then I'd obviously go with have, whereas if it's an entity on it's own, then it'd be has.

Is there a preferred/recommended use in this case?

Alex L
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    I've found this Q/A, but it doesn't mention initialisms – Alex L Oct 05 '12 at 06:29
  • I don't think the initialism factor determines anything about appropriateness of tense. Either way, much discussion here: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/1338/are-collective-nouns-always-plural-or-are-certain-ones-singular?rq=1 – Merk Oct 05 '12 at 06:36
  • I'd suggest the OP read through the cited references and return to decide if he would still like to keep this question. If he has found a satisfactory answer, either this post can be closed as duplicate or the OP can post the answer he has found. – Kris Oct 05 '12 at 06:55

2 Answers2

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Use with the initialism whatever form of the verb you'd use with the full title.

Barrie England
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Recommendation:

The FBI have...

if you're writing/speaking British English, and

The FBI has...

if you're writing/speaking American English.

Yanks don't often think of companies/groups of people as collections of individuals, but Brits much more often do. That's my justification for my recommendation.

And if you're writing a formal paper, don't switch back and forth. Journal editors don't like it when you mix BrE and AmE idioms and spellings. They prefer consistency, if they care at all.

  • Cheers - I'm Australian, so I'll go with have. You've also solved another problem for me - I now know what BE and AE stand for. (for what BE and AE stand?) – Alex L Oct 05 '12 at 07:05
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    what BE and AE stand for. The other structure is stilted, stuffy, stale, stodgy, and stifling. –  Oct 05 '12 at 07:28
  • this is something up with which you will not put? – Alex L Oct 05 '12 at 08:20
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    Strictly, surely, specifically, and 'solutely . –  Oct 05 '12 at 08:29