[jerry40]

> As you know, there are a long list of organizations that want Tesla to die.

Is it correct to use 'are' here instead of 'is'?

[bencollier49]

UK vs. US English.

We (English people) say "The Football Team are playing well", for instance.

[jerry40]

I'm still not sure. I discussed this topic with my English teacher (he's from the UK) yesterday and he does not like how this phrase looks either.

[jfk13]

No; "a long list" is singular.

[jerry40]

Thanks! I was afraid it was yet another tricky English rule.

[RVuRnvbM2e]

It depends on which part of the sentence you would like to emphasise. In this case, the _organisations_ want Tesla to die, not the _list_. Hence the plural form.

Not all collective nouns work this way, but in this case either is grammatically correct.

[jerry40]

But the words order is unambiguous (for me at least). I need to read about this topic more closely though.

[dri_ft]

I'm not sure, but my hunch is either is OK.

Compare:

> There are a hundred organizations that want Tesla to die.

> There is a hundred organizations that want Tesla to die.

[ttctciyf]

How many organizations? A hundred: plural. "There are a hundred organizations.."

How many lists? One: singular. "There is a list of a hundred organizations.."

[mbu]

Second one definitely seems wrong to me.

[mirimir]

... is ... list of organizations ...

... are ... organizations ...