What is collective noun? Would you like to learn in the simplest way with a lot of examples? Then, don’t worry, just go through our articles, it is filled with a simple explanation, so many images, video and many more! Let’s explore!
Do you have any idea about what is collective noun? It is a wide chapter and we will explore collective nouns in this lesson in the simplest way.
Dodo love his school very much and he attends his class every day. His house is 1km distance from school and he used to see a lot of people, a lot of cows, a lot of birds on his path every day.
Now, every time it’s is very difficult to talk about a lot of people or a lot of birds or a lot of cows, etc. and it will not be the right English in grammar too. Hence, it’s necessary to shorten and the concept of collective nouns in English grammar comes in our subject.
The word ‘collective’ comes from a ‘collection’ and ‘noun’ signifies ‘name’. So, collective nouns mean a collection of a number of :
Here, we say,
These crowd, herd, flock, etc. are known as collective nouns.
Let us look at a few collective nouns with explanations for our basic understanding:
| Collective Nouns | Explanation |
| Class | A class of students |
| Herd | A herd of cattle |
| Flock | A flock of birds |
| Pack | A pack of wolves |
| School | A school of fishes |
| Bunch | A bunch of flowers |
| Board | A board of directors |
| Crew | A crew of sailors |
| Group | A group of friends |
| Range | A range of hills |
| Mob | A mob of kangaroos |
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There are simple rules for the use of collective nouns.
We all know that a singular noun takes a singular verb. Here, in the same way, a singular collective noun takes a singular verb. When all the individuals of a collective noun are performing the same action as a unit, we will use a singular verb.
Examples:
Explanation:
Here, the audience acts as a common, that all people are enjoying in the same way during the cricket match, hence, we say, the audience IS enjoying instead of ARE enjoying.
In the same way, shoal or family or crowd, etc. acts as a common unit and all are with a singular verb.
We all know that a plural noun takes a plural verb. Here, in the same way, a plural verb follows a plural collective noun. When all the individuals of a collective noun are performing different activities other than the same action, we will use a plural verb.
Examples:
Explanation:
Here, the audience acts as a separate unit like showing different flags, look at the below image all flags are different, hence, we say, the audience ARE showing instead of the audience IS showing.
In the same way, shoal or family or crowd, etc. acts as a separate unit and all are with a plural verb.
Sometimes, plural verbs may sound odd and we are not comfortable with it. In this case, we can add “members of” before the collective noun, to sound plural verb properly.
There are few exceptions in singular and plural form which needs to be kept in mind. For example,
| Example | Explanation |
| Herd of deer | Here, we are using DEER instead of DEERS, although for the cow, elephant, etc. we are using a herd of cows or elephants. Remember DEER is the most preferred plural form used in English grammar as the irregular plural form. Hence, most type of deer-like caribou, moose, elk we use the same philosophy, i.e. A herd of deer/caribou/elk In the same way, sheep is also an irregular plural form and we use a herd of sheep instead of a herd of sheeps. |
| School of fish | Here, we use FISH instead of FISHES. In modern English, the plural of fish is fish only. Hence, we use the school of fish instead of school fishes. In the same way, we use, the party of rainbow fish instead of fishes. |
We use so many collective nouns in our day t day life, however, few of them are widely used. Let’s us check few of them,
There are so many worksheets for collective nouns available, which helps to test the knowledge.
The herd is a very common collective noun in many animals. These are mainly applicable for antelope, asses, buffaloes, bear, curlew, cows, chamois, cranes, chinchillas, deer, donkeys, elk, elephants, and many more.
This word mob is used widely used for emus, kangaroos, meerkats, thieves, sheep, wallabies, deer, rioters, etc.
This pack is used for many animals, like bears, coyotes, dogs, grouse, gulls, hounds, lies, mongooses, mules, rats, sharks, letters, etc. Let’s check,
The packet is widely used for cigarettes, coyotes, etc.
The word shoal is mainly used for bass, fish, herrings, mackerel, pilchards, salmon, sharks, minnows, etc.
Swarm means a large group of insects, widely used for ants, bees, butterflies, eels, gnat, etc.
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Hence, we have learned the basics of collective nouns. If you have any doubt, please write to us.
