In British English it’s entirely standard (and common) for grammatically singular collective nouns to take a plural verb and be referred to with a plural pronoun:
"The ManU have won three out of their last four matches."
"The Parliament have had heated debates over the NIH budget."
"Tesla introduced their newest EV model last week."
Any competent English teacher should know this.
Also, there’s no "correct" language outside of how it’s actually used. Linguists are the first to explain that their job is to describe, not to prescribe.
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I’ve no idea what you refer to with "laziness". The "rule" that you claim you were taught simply does not always apply.
A smart writing assistant will give advice that’s appropriate to the context, register, the recipient’s culture, communication style and tastes, and the author’s relationship with the recipient. Sometimes writing very normatively and by the book is part of the message. Sometimes the exact opposite is true. If the assistant is unaware of all the context relevant to the communication, it’s likely to be a bad assistant.
Dropping articles is wrong because English as natively spoken doesn’t work like that. Except when it does, like news headlines, condensed "telegram" or SMS style, and so on.
Not according to my references:
"When to use a singular verb
- When all the members of a collective noun are performing an action as a unit (and that’s usually the case), use a singular verb.
- The chamber orchestra often plays at the Art Centre.
When to use a plural verb
When the members of a collective noun are performing an action as individuals, use a plural verb. In this case, all or some members of the group are doing something independently of the other members; the group is not acting together as a unit.
- The orchestra are tuning their instruments.
- The cast have been practising their lines."
https://our-languages.canada.ca/en/writing-tips-plus/verb-ag...
That applies to NA English. And even there, as the reference says, notional agreement (verb/pronouns in plural) can be used when it’s more about the individual members of the collective doing something. So GP’s rule that only grammatical agreement (verb/pronouns in singular) is ever correct is wrong even in NA. But in BrE notional agreement is the most idiomatic choice while grammatical agreement is certainly also fine, just not standard style.
"The army are advancing", if I wrote that as a kid, I would get an F and if a British wrote it, they would get an A.. For me "the army is advancing". Anyways I learned a new thing today.