Is staff singular or plural AP style?
Staff is a collective noun and can take either a singular or plural verb depending on the context. Treat a collective noun as singular if it refers to a single entity and plural if it refers to a number of individuals.
Is staff singular or plural?
staff Definitions and Synonyms
| singular | staff |
|---|---|
| plural | staffs |
Do you say staff is or staff are?
You are correct that if you’re talking about wizardry and warlocks, the correct usage would be “the staff is.” That’s the easy one. A staff, or a pole or rod that denotes authority and/or gives support, is a singular object.
Is the work staff singular or plural?
Staff or Staffs? (Do you use ”staff” with a plural or singular verb?) Staff(meaning a collection of employees) is both the singular and plural of the noun. Staff is a collective noun so you need to think if the staff are performing an action together or separately. The staff does all their work from home.
Is staff a plural of staves?
Let’s start with “staff,” as in a stick that’s carried to help with walking or used as a weapon. “Staff” goes back to Old English, and the plural form was “staves.”
Is staff singular or plural UK?
staffs
The plural form staffs is less frequent but is used in both British English and North American English to refer to more than one group of people: the senator and his staff (singular) senators and their staffs (plural)
Is it all staff or all staff?
Because it is the usual phrase to use in a sentence like this. ‘All staff’ is a formal and abbreviated version which would normally be used in formal rules/announcements such as: All staff should report to the reception desk to sign in.
Is staff a singular collective noun?
If the collective noun (staff) is acting as a single unit, use the singular verb: “The staff is very efficient.” If the collective noun is meant to highlight the actions of discrete individuals who are all doing different things, use the plural verb: “The staff are working on many projects for the holiday party.”
How do you use the word staff?
How to use Staff in a sentence
- The chief of staff of the army is also a member of the council.
- But I did not always use this staff of life.
- I am speaking of the staff in general.
- I have come from the staff, Count.
What is the collective noun of staff?
The word staff is a collective noun. It represents a group. Some other examples of collective nouns are board, committee, company, organization, department, and faculty. The trick with these words is that when the group is acting in harmony, you must use the singular form of the verb.
Is the word staff countable or uncountable?
“Staff” is a countable noun, though it’s a collective noun, which can cause some confusion. In American English, most collective nouns are considered a singular term, so use a singular verb.
What type of noun is staff?
staff used as a noun: (plural: staffs or staves) a long, straight stick, especially one used to assist in walking. (plural: staves) A series of horizontal lines on which musical notes are written. (plural: staff) The employees of a business. (e.g. The company employed 10 new staff this month.)
Is it all staff are or all staff is?
“Staff” is often used as a collective noun. (A collective noun is a word that appears singular but represents an entire group.) If the group is acting as a unit – in other words, everyone – you use a singular verb. In this case, the singular verb is “is.” It implies all members must do this.
How do you say staff in plural?
- 1 staff /ˈstæf/ Brit /ˈstɑːf/ noun.
- plural staffs or staves /ˈsteɪvz/
- plural staffs or staves /ˈsteɪvz/
What is the plural possessive of staff?
In that case staffs’.
Does staff need an apostrophe?
However, if you are clear on the rules that govern these two grammatical terms, then it becomes easier to know which is which and where to place your apostrophe….Employee’s or Employees’?
| Employee | Singular noun | The employee works at the head office. |
|---|---|---|
| Employee’s | Singular possessive | The employee’s car is parked at the head office. |
The singular is “staff member”. Here you can see the usage in a dictionary: Meaning of staff in English Contents staff noun UK /stɑːf/ US /stæf/ staff noun (PEOPLE) A2 [ S, + sing/pl verb ] the group of people who work for an organization: There is a good relationship between staff and pupils at the school.
What do you call a group of staff?
Staff (when meaning a group of employees) is a collective noun with no plural. So, it’s “our staff do good work”. When referring to a group of sticks, it’s “staffs” in American English and “staffs” or “staves” everywhere else. The first point – can you back this up?
Is’staff’singular or plural?
You can think of staff as an irregular plural. When the sheep arrives we will put it in the paddock. When the sheep arrive we can put them in the paddock. This is is because ‘sheep’ is the plural of ‘sheep’. In the case of “staff”, it acts as an irregular plural that has no singular form! The singular is “staff member”.
Is it correct to say “our staff do”?
Show activity on this post. In British English, one can say “our staff do”, because they use plural verbal agreement to emphasize when an entity is made up of a group of people, whether this entity itself is marked as plural or not.