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L'equipaggio è pronto per il volo.

L'equipaggio è pronto per il volo.
The crew are ready for the flight.
From Lesson 242:Singular agreement for collective nouns (la gente, il gruppo)·Italian

Questions & Answers about L'equipaggio è pronto per il volo.

Why does the Italian sentence use è (is) when the English translation says "are"?
L'equipaggio (the crew) is a collective noun. Just like la gente (people) or la famiglia (the family), Italian treats it strictly as a single unit. Even though a crew is made up of many people, the grammatical word is singular, so it must take the singular verb è.
Since a crew has multiple people, could I ever say L'equipaggio sono pronti?
No, that would be a grammatical error in Italian. Both the verb (è) and the adjective (pronto) must strictly agree with the masculine singular noun equipaggio. Italian doesn't switch to plural agreement just because the noun represents a group of people.
Can I use equipaggio for a team at work or a sports team?
No, equipaggio is specifically used for the personnel operating a vehicle, like a plane, ship, or spacecraft. If you want to talk about a sports team or a work project team, you would use la squadra or il gruppo.
How can I remember the gender of equipaggio to ensure I use pronto instead of pronta?
A great trick is to look at the suffix. Nouns ending in -aggio (like il viaggio, il messaggio, and l'equipaggio) are almost always masculine. Because it is masculine singular, the adjective must be pronto.

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