Is or are

[Koi]

depends where they are in the league as to if they are or is rubbish

[Albannach]

A Hotel, never becomes an Otel, unless your are a drunk Yank.

The Americanism in there is the 'A Hotel' one, the English pronunciation would be 'An Otel'. I can't remember the exact rule, but it's something to do with polysyllables (historic is another one that springs to mind, 'An Historic event').

It's probably Googlable, but that's not going to cut here, is it?

Anyway; I still think team is singular, in the same way that Army is.

[Bogus]

The "rule" as I was taught it is,

an precedes a word which begins with vowel
a precedes a word which begins with a consonant

as Hotel begins with a consonant, proper English would be "a Hotel"
I dont understand the bit about dropping the H from hotel, I dont and because I dont, I cant accept that dropping it somehow becomes proper English.

Bogus

[yoshie]

The "rule" as I was taught it is,

an precedes a word which begins with vowel
a precedes a word which begins with a consonant

as Hotel begins with a consonant, proper English would be "a Hotel"
I dont understand the bit about dropping the H from hotel, I dont and because I dont, I cant accept that dropping it somehow becomes proper English.

Bogus

Almost, an precedes any vowel sound not just vowel.

see my "an FLM" V "a first line manager" the F has a vowel soun in FLM an so gets the "an"

[slobodan]

I dont understand the bit about dropping the H from hotel, I dont and because I dont, I cant accept that dropping it somehow becomes proper English.

Bogus

You don't understand it? really? or are you being (trying to be) a snob?

[markp2]

My opinion (based on English 'O' level about 35 years ago!)

Xmas Tree United ARE rubbish - I think a team is a plural.

An hotel - in 'Olde English', the H wasn't pronounced and it was said as otel.

An is used where the verb begins with a vowel (apple, echo, injector, ostrich, uniform etc). I am sure that there are exceptions to this rule, but other than hotel, I can't think of any. (Not sure I agree with the 'historic' example).

If you saw QI on telly a few days ago, apparently the spelling rule 'I before E except after C' has more exceptions than words where it works. Makes it a pretty rubbish 'rule' in my book!

Cheers,
Mark

[Sancho]

It's 'an' hotel. You don't drop the H. It's the same rule as in 'an historic'. As for the 'is' or 'are' thing, I've never worked that out. Companies are 'is' but sports teams, for some unknown reason, always seem to be 'are'.

[Bogus]

Almost, an precedes any vowel sound not just vowel.

see my "an FLM" V "a first line manager" the F has a vowel soun in FLM an so gets the "an"

So, do you live in an Ouse, or in a House ??
Does your truck have an Eater or a Heater??

[Wolfracer]

On strictly come dancing, they always refer to the couple leaving tonight 'is'... Sounds wrong, but is right. The couple are one item. The team is one item. Is. Is. Is. As for derbyshire- ay up mi duck is tha raight? Not many of those words are in the dictionary, never mind dropping an n here and there!

[Bogus]

You don't understand it? really? ?

Yes really.

[slobodan]

Yes really.

I had the impression that you was well traveled.

An otel, an eater, are all normal terms in the south.

If you are in a part of the country where you sound your 'aiches' then just say 'a'

I always found Leeds and Sheffield funny when they say "I'm going t'toilet" or t'shops etc

[flounderbout]

Tony has it spot on.
A team (or the name of it) refers to two things, the individuals that go to make up the team, and the team itself. Whether one should use "is" or "are" therefore depends on which of the two ways in which you are referring to the team in context.
The Australian cricket team are ungracious.
And the Australian team is a shadow of its former self.

[slobodan]

The Australian cricket team is sh!t

The Australian cricket team are sh!t

The Australian cricket team always were sh!t

Don't care what's correct, just enjoyed saying it.

[flounderbout]

And lest anyone should have the audacity to disagree with me, Swan (Practical English Usage, New Edition, Oxford University Press, 1997) has the following to say on the matter:

"In British English, singular words like family, team, government, which refer to groups of people, can be used with either singular or plural verbs and pronouns.

This team is/are going to lose.

Plural forms are common when the group is considered as a collection of people doing personal things like deciding, hoping or wanting; and in these cases we use who, not which, as a relative pronoun. Singular forms (with which as a relative pronoun) are more common when the group is seen as an impersonal unit. Compare:

My family have decided to move to Nottingham. They think it's a better place to live.
The average British family has 3.6 members. It is smaller and richer than 50 years ago.

The government, who are hoping to ease export restrictions soon, …
The government, which is elected by a simple majority, …

My firm are wonderful. They do all they can for me.
My firm was founded in the 18th century."

[flounderbout]

The Australian cricket team is sh!t

The Australian cricket team are sh!t

The Australian cricket team always were sh!t

Don't care what's correct, just enjoyed saying it.

Hear hear...! After all the opportunity doesn't arise all too often...