Collective Nouns
Noun
A noun is a word that refers to a thing (apple/ bat), a person (Miss Smith / Kevin), an animal (cat), a place (Africa), a quality (warmness), an emotion (love, happiness), etc.
Collective Nouns
A collective noun is used as a name for a group or a collection of things.
It represents a number of things (places, people or things)
- A group of mountains – Range
- A group of birds – flock
- A group of students – class
It is treated as one group or singular even though it names more than one.
- The flock eats seeds. (Not eat)
- Our family lives together. (Not live)
- Our family waits together. (Not wait)
‘My family is’ and ‘My family are’
If you think of your family as a single thing, then it is singular.
- My family is happy.
If you consider your family a group of people, then it is plural.
- My family are happy.
- The team is playing / eating / leaving (Here the is a single unit/thing working together
- So, the verb is singular.)
- The team are arguing about how to win the game. (Here we are thinking about different players within the team. So, the verb is plural.)
- The family goes on a trip every year. (The family collectively / together takes a trip, so the verb is singular.)
- The family have differing plans about the annual trip. (The members in the family have differing ideas, so the verb is plural.)
How to avoid confusion
If you find a singular verb with a collective noun distracting, then do this.:
- The team members are in disagreement about how to paint the mural.
- The family members have differing ideas about the annual trip. (Add members to specify different individuals)
Additional Points
The words ‘a’ and ‘an’ comes before collective nouns
The collective nouns are followed by ‘of’ and a noun telling who or what belongs to the group.
- An army of soldiers.
- A family of four.
- A fleet of aeroplanes.
- A bouquet of flowers.
Related topics
Naming Words for Class 2: Simple English Guide
Naming words are names of people, animals, birds, places or things. E.g. Leo, Rat, Crow, London, Book Four types of naming words E.g. Leo, Andrea, Father, Mother E.g. School, London, Park, New york E.g. Tiger, Monkey, Cow, Parrots E.g. Box, Pen, Apples, Car Everything that we can touch, feel, see and talk about is represented by […]
Read More >>Types of Nouns: Definition, Kinds, and Examples
If you’ve developed a nascent interest in the English language already, or your child enjoys reading from the English signboards and alphabet books, it’s time that they were introduced to nouns. Nouns (or naming words, as they are conveyed to kids) are the flat concrete surface on which your child or student’s vocabulary will be […]
Read More >>
Context Clues
What Are Context Clues? Context clues are small hints in a sentence or paragraph that you can see. It helps you understand the meaning of a word you do not know. For this, you will not need to use a dictionary. The sentence itself helps you understand. When you read, the words near can be […]
Read More >>
Speech Writing: Format, Topics, and Examples
What Is Speech Writing? While writing a speech we should concentrate on the three ‘C’s. Your speech should be clear, concise, and consistent. Let’s see the format of speech writing. Speech Writing Format It contains two parts. Title: Give a good title to the topic while writing a speech. Content: The content section is divided […]
Read More >>
Other topics
Comments: