Corporate entities: singular or plural?
Explaining formal and notional subject–verb agreement
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Many authors run into trouble when using the names of corporate entities because they are unsure of whether the entity should be treated as singular or plural.
For example, should the author use ‘was’ or ‘were’ after the name of the corporate entity below:
General Construction Ltd. was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday.
General Construction Ltd. were listed on the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday.
The name of a corporate entity, in most cases, is a collective noun. A collective noun refers to a group of people, animals, plants or other objects. Words such as committee, staff and collection are collective nouns. The name of a corporate entity is also a collective noun. Although the corporate entity may be composed of many people, the entity itself is singular.
Formal grammar rules on subject–verb agreement dictate that the verb ‘was’ should be used in association with a singular subject, such as ‘He was pleased to announce his success’, and that the verb ‘were’ should be used in conjunction with a plural subject, such as ‘They were pleased to announce their success’. When it comes to corporate entities, however, it becomes a bit more complex.
There is a choice to be made between two different forms of subject–verb agreement called ‘formal’ and ‘notional’. Formal agreement is the strictest form of agreement, and follows the grammatical form of the subject. Notional agreement, on the other hand, changes based on whether it is understood the subject is acting as one thing or many things. For example:
The committee was chosen by the CEO. (Here we are treating the committee as a single entity.)
The committee were unable to agree on a decision. (Here we are treating the committee as separate individuals.)
An author may choose to use either formal or notional agreement with corporate entities. While either option may be grammatically correct, in more formal writing, such as for government, research publications and client reports, using formal agreement, i.e. using the singular, is recommended unless you are trying to emphasise the individuals within the organisation.
Using the singular ensures consistency within the document and presents the entity as a cohesive unit.
If you are looking for definitive guidance, many style guides agree that names of companies are singular, including The Chicago Manual of Style Online (in Section 5.15) and the 6th edition of the Australian Style Manual (in Chapter 5).
And finally, if the corporate entity name is shortened, or an acronym, initialism or contraction is used, the same rules apply regarding subject–verb agreement:
General Construction Ltd. was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday.
GCL was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday.
