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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Sign up to join this communityWhy is the declension of the verb is for feminine singular?
группа туристов хотела бы пообедать.
Isn't группа туристов
plural here?
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 )
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.