Collective Nouns | Example of Collective Noun | Grammar Lesson For English Speaking | Best English Speaking Course In Delhi

What is a Collective Noun?
1. Collective noun – used for PEOPLE
A band of musicians
A gang of thieves
An army of soldiers
A crowd of people
A panel of judges
A troupe of actors
A team of players
A class of students
A group of girls
A family
A mob of people
A choir of singers
The staff of people
2. Collective noun – used for ANIMALS
A herd of cattle
An army of ants
A horde of rhinos
A school of fish
A pack of wolves
A swarm of locusts
A litter of kittens
A hive of bees
A flock of geese
3. Collective noun – used for THINGS
A fleet of ships
A bunch of broccoli
A bouquet of flowers
A pair of earrings
A galaxy of stars
A stack of pancakes
A basket of fruit
A library of books
A pack of cards
A series of books
The key question is whether to treat collective nouns as singular or plural.
Should we write the jury is or the jury are?
The following examples will steer clear of the confusion.
A. Singular Collective Nouns:
Example 1 : The mob outside the courthouse was angry, and it showed its frustration by throwing anything it could find at the courthouse walls.
Everything is singular: noun – mob; pronouns – it and its

Example 2 : The herd of buffalo stampeded towards the wall with all its might.
Everything is singular: collective noun – herd; pronoun – its

Example 3 :The swarm scares me to death! It is coming at me very quickly.
Everything is singular: collective noun – swarm ; pronoun – it

Example 4 :The pack of wolves licks its chops as it surrounds the carcass lying on the ground.

Note: This one is trickier! Because we used the entire phrase pack of wolves, and wolves is plural, you could mess up on this one. However, the collective noun pack is singular. The of wolves part is just a prepositional phrase that describes the pack.

B. Plural Collective Nouns
Examples of Plural Collective Nouns:
Example 1: The crowd is very happy to see its candidate in person. It claps loudly as she climbs the stairs to the stage.
Let’s break this down. In this first sentence, crowd is used in the singular form. Therefore, is is the singular verb that is used in the first sentence. The first sentence also uses the singular pronoun it, and the singular verb claps. Thereby, all forms of pronouns and verbs match the singular form of crowd that we used.

Example 2 : The crowds in three cities are very happy to see their candidate in person. Whenever she is in town, they clap loudly to show their support.
In this sentence, the plural of crowd which is crowds is used.This plural form is easy to spot as it uses the addition of s. They are not always that easy to spot!

But this is clearly the plural that is being used. We are talking about three different crowds in three different cities. Notice then that we use the plural tense of the verb is (which is were) so that the subject and verb agree. Likewise, in the follow-up sentence, we use the plural pronouns they and their as well as the plural verb clap – so everything is in agreement.

So when do you use the singular and when do you use plural when it’s not so obvious?

Here’s the question you want to ask to answer that question:

“Is the group that forms the collective noun all working together in unison?”
Which is correct?
Example: The choir is performing Christmas Carols at the Billy Bob’s Center for Performing Arts.
OR
Example: The choir are performing Christmas Carols at the Billy Bob’s Center for Performing Arts.

If you chose the first sentence, you are correct. The choir is performing as a unit. I seriously doubt that they will all be singing different carols at different times – thereby causing a serious mess. They will be singing in unison, and that makes choir singular.

Now, let’s imagine that three of the members of the choir are in a rehearsal room. The three members are all rehearsing for a competition that’s taking place down the hall. However, instead of working together, they are all rehearsing individual pieces to perform at the competition. In this scenario, the sentence would look something like this:

Example: With Vivek singing opera, Jyotsna belting out Led Zeppelin, and Myra singing show tunes, the choir are getting their voices ready for the competition.

Note: We’re seeing something different. Because they are not working together, the collective noun choir becomes plural.
Therefore, the plural pronouns “are” and “their” as well as the plural noun voices so that they are all in agreement.
If the three aficionados were all working together on the same song, we would use singular nouns and pronouns:
Vivek, Jyotsna, and Myra decided to perform an opera piece together. The choir is getting its voice ready for the competition.

Note:We use the singular pronouns “is”, “its”, and the noun voice in the sentence above because they are now working together.