Blog about English
Nouns referring to groups of people, animals or things.
A collective noun refers to a group of people, animals, or things as a single unit.
Examples include team, family, government, audience, committee, and staff.
Collective nouns can refer to groups of people who share an activity, role, or organization.
Examples include team, committee, audience, class, staff, and company.
English has many conventional collective nouns for groups of animals.
Examples include a flock of birds, a herd of cattle, a pack of wolves, and a school of fish.
Some nouns refer collectively to groups of objects or abstract items.
Examples include a bunch of keys, a set of tools, and a collection of books.
A collective noun can take a singular verb when the group is viewed as a single unit.
For example, The team is winning and The committee has reached a decision.
In British English, collective nouns can take plural verbs when the individuals within the group are being emphasized.
For example, The team are wearing different shirts and The government are divided on the issue.
American English generally favors singular agreement with collective nouns, while British English permits singular or plural agreement depending on whether the group or its individual members are emphasized.
For example, The family is visiting in common American usage, while The family are arguing can occur in British English when the members are viewed separately.
Team and family can be followed by singular or plural verbs depending on variety and whether the group is viewed as a unit or as individuals.
For example, The team is ready emphasizes the unit, while The team are changing their clothes emphasizes individual members.
Collective nouns such as government, committee, and staff can show variation in agreement according to dialect and meaning.
For example, The committee has decided focuses on the committee as a body, while The committee are divided focuses on its members.
Police is normally treated as a plural noun in standard English and is followed by a plural verb.
For example, The police are investigating the incident.
People normally functions as the plural of person, while persons is a more formal or restricted alternative in certain contexts.
For example, Three people were waiting. Persons may appear in legal, official, or formal expressions.
Some nouns refer to objects that naturally consist of two matching parts and can have plural grammatical behavior.
Examples include scissors, trousers, glasses, and binoculars.
Nouns such as scissors, trousers, and glasses can be used with a pair of when referring to one item.
For example, a pair of scissors, a pair of trousers, and two pairs of glasses.
Many collective expressions use a singular collective noun followed by of and a plural noun.
For example, a group of students, a crowd of people, and a herd of cattle.
The grammatical number of the main noun phrase depends on whether the subject is the collective noun or the plural noun inside an of-phrase.
For example, A group of students is waiting, while Several groups of students are waiting.
The number of takes a singular verb because it refers to one numerical quantity, while a number of means several and takes a plural verb.
For example, The number of applicants is increasing, but A number of applicants are waiting.
Expressions such as a lot of take singular or plural agreement according to the noun that follows them.
For example, A lot of people are here, but A lot of information is available.
When a collective noun functions as the subject, agreement should match the intended interpretation and variety of English.
For example, The audience was silent focuses on the audience as one unit, while The audience were taking their seats can emphasize individuals in British English.
Do not choose a singular or plural verb mechanically; consider the collective noun, intended meaning, and variety of English being used.
Common mistakes include using singular police, confusing a group of with the members of the group, and switching between British and American agreement conventions without consistency.