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The phrase "audience were appalled" is not correct in standard written English due to subject-verb agreement.
It can be used when describing a reaction of a group of people, but it should be "audience was appalled" since "audience" is a collective noun treated as singular.
Example: "The audience was appalled by the unexpected turn of events in the play."
Alternatives: "spectators were shocked" or "viewers were horrified."
Exact(1)
Many members of the audience were appalled with his position yet impressed by his frankness.
Similar(59)
As for the furor, there's no question, Mr. Kramon said, that "our audience was appalled".
"Some audiences are appalled by him," Mr. Gunn reported.
According to legend, his brief set – three songs including "Like a Rolling Stone", the six-minute-plus masterwork he had released as a single just five days earlier – was booed by sections of the audience who were appalled that the "voice of a generation" had ditched the raw authenticity of acoustic music for the crass, commercial thrills of an amplified rock 'n' roll band.
"It starts as a half way decent idea and then it goes completely wrong and is taken ad absurdum," claimed Cleese, going on to describe how he used to make "racial" jokes but eventually stopped because his audiences – he claimed – were appalled when he included Mexican-related jokes in his stand-up routine.
His audience was stunned.The Germans, unsurprisingly, were appalled.
Her appearance on Jack Paar's "Tonight Show" gave her national exposure, but audiences and Mr. Paar himself were appalled at her off-color ethnic jokes.
Critics were appalled and denounced the series as crassly exploitative; audiences responded far more favorably.
The marines were appalled.
Purists were appalled.
Swiss bankers were appalled.
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Justyna Jupowicz-Kozak
CEO of Professional Science Editing for Scientists @ prosciediting.com