A collective noun is plural when the group acts as a unit (i.e., "The team lost their fourth game in a row.").
We tend to use a singular pronoun when a group acts as a single unit or the responsibility is taken as a group. So to use your team example, we might say "The team is posing for a photograph." as they are posing as a group. On the other hand we might say "
"The team are signing autographs." because they are doing this as individuals.
When dealing with teams in sport we subtly differentiate between true teams (e.g. soccer) and collective teams such as the Ryder Cup team. Thus "The team lost their fourth match in a row." could be a chess team.
That's correct! In English, a collective noun is generally considered singular when the group is acting as a single unit, and it is considered plural when the individuals in the group are acting independently.
For example, when you say "The team lost their fourth game in a row," you are treating the team as a group of individuals, each with their own individual losses. In this case, "team" is plural because you are referring to the individual team members and attributing the loss to each of them.
To identify whether a collective noun should be treated as singular or plural, you can look at how it is being used in the sentence. If the group is acting as a singular unit, you would use a singular verb and pronoun. If the individuals within the group are acting independently, you would use a plural verb and pronoun.
It's important to note that there can be some variation in usage, and in some cases, both singular and plural forms are acceptable depending on the context.