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Why is the declension of the verb is for feminine singular?

группа туристов хотела бы пообедать.

Isn't группа туристов plural here?

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  • Why would "группа" be plural? Do you say "group of tourists have arrived at the camp" in English?
    – Abakan
    Apr 7, 2017 at 10:21
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    @Abakan In British English, that is in fact what you say. Apr 7, 2017 at 11:16
  • @Abakan, I have found some info on the net, and it said that both singular and plural are possible in English. I even came across such a sentence "..BE has a much stronger preference for a plural verb with a group of people.."
    – xpr34
    Apr 7, 2017 at 11:26

2 Answers 2

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No, "группа туристов" is singular. The fact that group denotes a set of objects does not change the fact that the word itself is singular.

Compare "группа туристов заблудилась в лесу" and "группы туристов переходили вброд речку кто где".

As an example of seemingly more complicated constructs think of "пара групп туристов" - it's a couple of groups - and it's still singular )

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  • "группа" is feminine singular. That is why "хотела" is used, right?
    – xpr34
    Apr 7, 2017 at 11:28
  • @xpr34 yes, precisely
    – shabunc
    Apr 7, 2017 at 11:37
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While Russian does hesitate between singular and plural with such collective nouns as ряд, большинство, меньшинство, часть, or множество, the word группа doesn't have the quasi-numeral, for lack of a better term, properties of the English "group". In other words, it's thought of as an entity comprised of people, rather than a set of people.

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