Were or was?

[irmamar]

The most important band was/were the Beatles.

Thanks.

[Perikles]

Escrito originalmente por irmamar

The most important band was/were the Beatles.

Hey - we've had this before with groups. In this case, band is clearly singular and so must the verb be.

On a different level,

The most important band was The Rolling Stones.

[lacasadeannie]

The most important band was The Beatles. ("band" is singular - a collective noun. And yes, I totally agree! )

[Perikles]

Escrito originalmente por lacasadeannie

The most important band was The Beatles. ("band" is singular - a collective noun. And yes, I totally agree! )

Yes, but collective nouns can be singular or plural in BrE,

The jury retired to consider their/its verdict.
The team was celebrating their/its victory

[irmamar]

No, it was the Beatles.

Thank you.

[CrOtALiTo]

I have a question.

Was is for an person.

And the were is utilized for a third person right?

They were the greatest artist of the history.

[Rusty]

Crotalito, as stated above, the word 'band' is singular, so the singular third-person verb is used. This is 'was'.

It was. He was. She was. The apple was. The band was.


They were the greatest artists in history.

Your last sentence, corrected above, uses the third-person plural because the subject 'they' is plural.

[CrOtALiTo]

I got it.

Thank you for the explanation.

[laepelba]

Just for clarification, would you write that sentence in Spanish. I know it has something to do with the word "grupo" and the use of a plural verb.... right?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@Lou Ann: "Grupo", "banda" and similar words are only singular in Spanish. (Same with "policía", "gente", etc.)