Collective nouns

When we talk about a team in English, we have to choose whether to use a singular or
plural verb form.

This depends on whether you see the team as a single unit ("the team is playing") or as a
group of several people ("the team are playing").

Both forms are correct - "is" is more common in US English, while "are" is more
common in UK English. Besides "team", other examples of collective nouns include:
"family", "government" and "public".

UK English 🇬🇧
Manchester United are winning.
My family are visiting me.
The government are listening to our
concerns.
US English 🇺🇸
Manchester United is winning.
My family is visiting me.
The government is listening to our
concerns.

Some exceptions to the rule

There is a group of words that can take either "-est" or "most" in the superlative. These
words all have two syllables (beats), for example "gentle". Below are some of the most
common words in this group, one of which is the word "common"!

common the commonest / the most common

cruel the cruelest / the most cruel
gentle the gentlest / the most gentle
handsome the handsomest / the most handsome
likely the likeliest / the most likely
narrow the narrowest / the most narrow
polite the politest / the most polite
simple the simplest / the most simple
stupid the stupidest / the most stupid