Often, it is easy to spot the plural in a sentence: Our online courses can help improve your grammar skills. Sometimes, however, business writers are faced with collective nouns and confusion on how to use proper grammar around those nouns. Verb Agreement Selecting the verb for a collective noun, or a phrase including a collective noun, can confuse some of the best business writers. Examples are: a herd of cows, hive of bees, litter of puppies or a set of skills. Many writers