8/17/2016 Collective Nouns

CollectiveNouns
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/CollectiveNouns.htm

TheFarlexGrammarBook>EnglishGrammar>PartsofSpeech>Nouns>CollectiveNouns

CollectiveNouns
Definition
Collectivenounsarenounsthatrefertoacollectionorgroupofmultiplepeople,animals,orthings.However,even
thoughcollectivenounsrefertomultipleindividuals,theystillusuallyfunctionassingularnounsinasentence.This
isbecausetheystillaretechnicallyreferringtoonething:thegroupasawhole.Herearesomeexamplesof
collectivenouns:
groupAgroupisasingleunitthatismadeupofanumberofindividuals,whetherpeopleorthings.
collectionAcollectionisasingleunitthattypicallyconsistsofmanysimilarthingsorganizedtogether,suchas
paintings.
tribeAtribeisasingleunitthatismadeupofagroupoftribemembers.
fleetAfleetisasingleunitthatismadeupofseveralvehiclesorvessels,suchasships.
bandAbandisasingleunitthatconsistsofanumberofdifferentmusicians.

Collectivenounsareusedinsentencestorefertoagroupofpeople,animals,orthings.Herearesomeexamplesof
collectivenounsbeingusedinsentences:
Theflockofbirdsflewsouthforthewinter.
Theorganizationvotedtorevoketherulesthatithadpreviouslyapproved.
Thesetoftableclothshaddisappeared.

Similaritytopluralnouns
Collectivenounsareverysimilartopluralnouns.Pluralnounsarenounsthatrefertomultiplepeople,places,or
things,andtheyprimarily(butnotalways)endins,es,ories.Theyarederivedfromsingularnouns,andso
aretrulypluralinformandfunction.Forexample,thefollowingwordsareallpluralnouns:
dogs
cities
tables
oceans
sleds

Bothpluralnounsandcollectivenounscanrefertomultiplethings.Thedifferenceisthatcollectivenounsrefertoa
groupofindividualsinasingleunit,whereaspluralnounsrefertomultipleindividuals.Tounderstandthedifference,
considerthefollowingsentence:

Themusiciansplayedthesongbeautifully.

Thissentencecontainsthepluralnounmusicians.Thiswordletsthereaderknowthattherearemultiplemusicians
whoplayedthesongbeautifully.Nowlet'slookatasimilarsentence:

Theorchestraplayedthesongbeautifully.

Thissentencecontainsthecollectivenounorchestra.Thiswordletsthereaderknowthatthereisagroupof
musiciansthatplayedthesongbeautifully.However,italsoletsthereaderknowthatthemultiplemusiciansare
arrangedintoasinglegroup.Thepluralnounmusiciansinthefirstsentencedoesnotdothat.

Herearetwomoreexamples:
Thesoldiersmarchedveryswiftly.(pluralnoun)

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Theplatoonmarchedveryswiftly.(collectivenoun)

Asinthepreviousexamples,bothsoldiersandplatoonindicatemultiplepeople.However,onlyplatoonletsthe
readerknowthatthesoldiersareorganizedintoacollectiveunit.

Singularvs.PluralUse
Collectivenounsusuallyfunctionassingularnounsinasentence,buttheyareoccasionallyusedasplurals,too.
Whethertheyareusedinasingularorpluralmannercanimpactwhichverbsandpronounsshouldbeassociated
withtheword.

Thewaywedetermineinwhichmannerthecollectivenounshouldbeusedistoconsiderwhetherthemembersof
thecollectivenounarebeingregardedasasingle,wholeunit,orasmultipleindividuals.Iftheyarefunctioningasa
whole,thenyouusesingularverbtensesandpronounsiftheyareactingindividually,thenyouusepluralverb
tensesandpronouns.

Forexample,thefollowingsentencedemonstratessingularuseofacollectivenoun:

Theoffensehopestoscoreatouchdownonitsnextplay.

Here,thecollectivenounoffensereferstothemembersoftheteamsoffensiveunitfunctioningasawhole
therefore,itactsasasingularnouninthesentence.Asaresult,theverbhopesandthepronounitsarealso
singular.

Comparethistothenextsentence,whichdemonstratespluraluseofacollectivenoun:

Thejuryeattheirlunchesbeforetheydeliberate.

Inthissentence,thecollectivenoun,jury,referstothejurymembersactingindividually.Asaresult,juryfunctionsas
apluralnouninthesentence.Thismeansthatthepluralpronounstheyandtheirareused,asisthepluralformof
theverbeat.

Finally,itisworthnotingthatinBritishEnglish,itismorecommonforcollectivenounstofunctionaspluralsinall
instances.

Pluralonlycollectivenouns
Certaincollectivenounscanonlybeplural,suchaspolice.Forexample:
Thepoliceareinvestigatingthematter.(correct)
Thepoliceisinvestigatingthematter.(incorrect)
However,wecanmakethenouncountablebyaddingmoreinformationtothesentence.Ifwewanttospecifya
singlememberofthepolice,wecouldsay:
Apoliceofficerisinvestigatingthematter.

Herearesomeotherexamplesofcollectivenounsthatcanonlybeplural:
people
children
poultry
vermin
cattle

CollectiveNounsandAnimals
IntheEnglishlanguage,therearemanydifferenttypesofcollectivenounsthatrefertodifferentgroupingsof
animals.Therearehundredsofdifferentcollectivenounsusedtodescribeanimalgroupnames,buthereareafew
commonones:
flockofbirds
podofwhales

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packofwolves
prideoflions
gaggleofgeese
bandofcoyotes
gatlingofwoodpeckers
huddleofpenguins
mobofkangaroos
schooloffish

Quiz

1.Whichofthefollowingwordsisacollectivenoun?

a)birds
b)berries
c)cake
d)team

2.Whichwordisthecollectivenouninthefollowingsentence?
Theherdmovednorthoverthemountains.

a)moved
b)north
c)herd
d)mountains

3.Whichofthefollowingisnotacollectivenoun?

a)ships
b)group
c)committee
d)government

4.Acollectivenounisusually_______inasentence.

a)plural
b)singular
c)Neither
d)A&B

5.Whichofthefollowingisacollectivenounthatreferstoagroupofanimals?

a)book
b)snow
c)flock
d)sky

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