'The staff in the shop was' or 'the staff in the shop were'?

It would be better to say, "The members of the staff in the shop were". English has ambiguities like this which are better got round by fudge. Sometimes we say, "The government is looking into..." , and other times we say, "The government are adamant that...". We also say, "All staff are informed that...", because it would be strange to say, "All staff is informed that..." (cn. all hope is gone from us, better than, all hope are gone us).

"The staff in the shop were"

"staff" is plural because it refers to a group of people, for an individual, you would say "the member of staff" or "the staff member". Even though you are talking about one group of people, it's still plural. Same with other groups e.g. "The police at the station were..."

The correct one is "The staff in the shop was". although I don't feel as though that sounds right sometimes. I get round it by writing "the members of staff in the shop were". That just sounds more natural to me.

There are no hard and fast rules for collective nouns.

Ian s is correct, though: Americans tend to treat collective nouns as single units, so it’s more common to use the singular verb unless you’re definitely talking about individuals So in America you would be more likely to hear “The staff is meeting today” than “The staff are meeting today.”

Hi there!!! Whenever you deal with groups (such as staff), you have to consider if they're doing something as a group or as individual persons. It actually depends on the situation. If the staff was doing something as a one group, then you use was. Otherwise, use were. Example for was: "The staff in the shop was happy of what had happened." All of the staff was happy (they were united in feeling such emotion), so you use was. Example for were: "The staff were arguing among themselves." The staff couldn't argue with itself (the staffers are now divided and argues among themselves therefore the staff is not taken as a "group" anymore but as "individuals"), so you use were. I hope this helps!!! God bless!!! :)

'Were' is the correct answer, for both British and American English.

Tricky though, as more often than not Brits use plural nouns for groups that Americans would consider a singular entity. They would say for example, "The government are..." vs. "The government is..."

This example defies the norm. TY for posting.

You want "was." The staff is *one* group of ppl, therefore a singular noun.

Now, if you said "staffers," that would be plural.

staff - like sheep can be plural or single - in your case you were referring to a plural so the word is 'were'.