Collective nouns what is a collective noun dk find out. Plural forms are preferred when the group is considered as a collection of people doing personal things. When the focus is on the individual parts of the group, british english sometimes uses a plural verb and plural pronouns. It isnt possible to have just one lion in a pride, and a single flower does not make a bouquet. It means collective noun is a single noun that is made up of more than one thing or person or etc.
Collective nouns with singular verbs and plural pronouns some people at age. The names which denoterefer to group or collection of people, animals, places, ideas or objects of same kind are known as collective nouns. Thus, a collective noun always describes a plurality of one kind or another. In these cases, use a plural verb to match the plural. Legal writers often have to deal with collective nouns, and here are some of the most common. A collective noun is the name of a number or collection of persons or things taken together and spoken of as one entity.
Collective noun definition and meaning collins english. Collective nouns are nouns which stand for a group or collection of people or things. If members of the group are viewed as a single unit acting together, a singular verb is used. That thing, however, is made up of more than one person. In the reflexive form, as here, it usually means to approach or to get nearer. If the sentence indicates more individuality, use a plural verb. Nouns a noun is the part of speech that names a person, place, thing, or an idea. However, even though collective nouns refer to multiple individuals, they still usually function as singular nouns in a sentence. The advice that editors and usage guides will typically give in this case is to strive for agreement in your writing. A collective noun is a word that is used to refer to a number of people, animals, or things that we group together and speak of as a whole. Members of collective nouns can behave in a similar fashion. A collective noun refers to a group of people or things.
If the collective noun refers to the group as a unit, then it takes a singular verb. A noun is a word that functions as the name of some specific thing, people or place. Collective nouns usually take a singular verb, because they are singular in construction, but they sometimes take a plural verb. A collective noun is a nounsuch as team, committee, jury, squad, orchestra, crowd, audience, and familythat refers to a group of individuals. Companies and corporations can be compared to the collective noun, team. The quick answer a collective noun can be considered as either singular or plural depending on the sense of the sentence. Collective nouns used as one unit take a singular verb. Collective nouns are names for a collection or a number of people or things.
A collective noun refers to a type of noun that encompasses a whole group as a single entity as well as the members of that group. Subject and verb agreement with collective nouns world. Team is plural because separate presentations were given. Collective nouns group nouns english grammar learn. But the image the verb conveys is one of being closely surrounded, and enveloped seemed to work fine, although other phrases might have been used as well. Does a collective noun take a singular or plural verb form.
Apr 12, 2018 collective nouns can be plural or singular. There are lots of collective nouns for groups of animals. English only forum a collective noun is one that in the singular form denotes a number of separate persons or things. As it says in the chicago manual of style, a singular verb emphasizes the group. A collective noun is a noun such as family or team that refers to a group of people. Collective noun definition, a noun, as herd, jury, or clergy, that appears singular in formal shape but denotes a group of persons or objects. A crew, a tribe, or a class are examples of collective nouns for people. This is consistent with current american use, in which, when collective house is followed by plural representatives, verb can be either singular or plural, but is most often plural. In british english, however, collective nouns are often treated as plural in form and so take plural verbs, e.
A tendency to drop grammatical number in collective nouns, stronger in british english than in north american english, exists. If its too hard to make a decision on singular or plural, precede your collective noun with words like members of, forcing you to go plural. The special words for different types of animals a pride of lions, a murder of crows, etc. Attend is a plural conjugation for the verb to attend furthermore, pronoun agreement for collective nouns can be difficult to decipher. Use a singular verb when the members of the group are acting together as a unit. Aug 10, 2010 as we mention in rule 9 of subjectverb agreement, a collective noun such as company may take a singular or plural verb depending on the writers intent. Plural verb for collective noun not oneoff britishisms. Collective noun meaning in the cambridge english dictionary. If these nouns are acting as a unit, use a singular verb. A collective noun is a type of noun that identifies groups of people and things. A collective noun can be singular or plural depending on the sense of the sentence. As you read these examples, notice that the members of the collective noun are not acting in unison.
Collective nouns are representation as a single unit. The act that is performed as a unit gets a singular verb, while the other gets a plural one. Collective nouns have both singular and plural forms. When using collective nouns, writers occasionally face questions of subject. Even though the noun itself is singular, it includes multiple people.
For example the committee has reached its decision. It is interesting to note that when a decision needs to be made about whether a collective noun is singular or plural and the answer is ambiguous, american english will almost always default to a singular verb, while british english writers will often choose a plural. The tricky thing is that, when trying to figure out how to use collective nouns, the question of whether to use a singular or plural verb form depends on whether you are writing in american or british english. A noun of multitude denotes the individuals of the group and takes plural verb even if the noun is singular. List of collective nouns by collective noun armada of ships army of caterpillars, frogs, soldiers bank of circuits battery of tests bed of clams, snakes belt of asteroids bevy of beauties bouquet of flowers brood of hens caravan of camels cete of badgers chain of islands clan of hyenas class of students cloud of gnats clowder of cats. In the following sentences, decide whether the collective noun requires the singular or plural verb. In british english, which is the form of english i use, it.
And the reader is right about how one chooses to make it singular or plural. Its the fact that the collective noun seems plural thats messing me up. Here, the collective noun flock is acting as individual units. Generally, in american english, collective nouns take singular verbs, e. When the sentence is highlighting the individuals among the group, the noun is plural. In american english, most collective nouns are treated as singular, with a singular verb. This is because they still are technically referring to one thing.
It depends on how the collective noun is to be expressed as a group performing together or individually. The word population is a collective noun that can take either a singular or plural verb, depending on the intention of the author. It takes a plural verb when it refers to the members of the group considered as individuals, as in my family are always fighting among themselves. When using collective nouns, writers occasionally face questions of subjectverb agreement and pronoun agreement. There are collective nouns for people, animals, objects, and concepts. Whether a collective noun, which is singular in form, is used with a singular or plural verb depends on whether the word is referring to the group as a unit or to its members as individuals. Collective nouns group nouns learn english grammar. A tendency to drop grammatical number in collective nouns, stronger in british english than in north american english, exists a hundred, a thousand, few, many, are to be considered as collective nouns, and distinguished as such. Do you use a singular or plural verb to match a collective noun such as team or staff. Collective nouns can be replaced by both singular and plural pronouns, depending on their.
My emphasis in the blog subject and verb agreement with collective nouns is to determine whether to use a singular or plural verb depending on whether these nouns are acting as a unit or with individuality within the unit, regardless of any uk or american tendencies. In these cases, use a singular verb to match the singular subject. Since the author chose to clarify company as those who, it appears your friend favored a plural interpretation. Collective nouns represent more than one person or thing in a class. Even though a collective noun might refer to a group of people, the group itself is a thing. In american usage, a collective noun takes a singular verb when it refers to the collection considered as a whole, as in the family was united on this question. Also, when the plural their is used, the implication is that the collective noun is being used as a plural. Collective plural synonyms, collective plural pronunciation, collective plural translation, english dictionary definition of collective plural. The plural verb forms are often used in british english with the singular forms of these count nouns e. In british english, which is the form of english i use, it is more common to use plural verbs and pronouns. Subject and verb agreement with collective nouns grammar. A collective noun refers to a group of people, animals or objects as a group.
For example, you may want to create a random list of just nouns. When a group is considered as a single unit, the collective noun is used with a singular verb and singular pronoun. Collective nouns are nouns that refer to a collection or group of multiple people, animals, or things. The family were sitting down, scratching their heads. Collective nouns treated as singular and plural in the same. For example, words like faculty, herd, and team are collective nounstheyre singular words but represent a group. A collective noun is a name for a group of people or things such as family, class, pack, bouquet, pair, and flock. In this sentence, class does not refer to a single individual but a group of people. They include words such as audience, committee, police, crew, family, government, group, and team.
Confusion often stems from the way that different forms of english handle agreement with collective nounsspecifically, whether or not to use the collective singular. Faculty is a collective noun, and it can be plural or singular depending on the way it is used. In us english, a collective noun such as amazon would almost always carry singular verbs and pronouns. A collective noun is the name of a number or collection of persons or things taken together and spoken of as one entity for example. You cannot have a committee, team, or family of one. When the members are acting as individuals, the collective noun is plural and requires plural verbs and pronouns. Both singular and plural verbs can be used, because of the notion of the individual members of a team. Nouns are one of the main parts of speech and sentence. In the first example below, the shoal is considered as one unit. In british english a collective noun can be used either with singular or plural verbs and pronouns. Collective noun is a noun which describes a group of things oe people. The use of a collective noun in a sentence can cause difficulty as to whether it takes a. Collective nouns are words like family, team, committee, government and audience.
A collective noun is a special noun that names a group of people or things. British and american style guides tend to agree that collective nouns like audience, committee, and data can be construed as either singular or plural, according to whether the word is perceived as a unit or as individual items. Singular forms are common when the group is seen as an impersonal unit. Collective nounsdefinition and most popular examples. Mar 05, 2020 collective noun plural collective nouns grammar a noun which, though singular, refers to a group of things or animals. If it refers to the individuals in the group or the parts that make up the group, then the verb should be plural. The use of a collective noun in a sentence can cause difficulty as to whether it takes a singular or plural verb. When you use the plural, it gives the sense of these multiple components.
The moot issue here is the distinction between a collective noun and a noun of multitude as shown by nesfield. In american english, collective nouns usually take singular verb forms. Use correct verbs and pronouns with collective nouns. Singular collective nouns other examples include measles, civics, social studies, mumps, news, cast, social studies, economics, and mathematics. It is, however, also a collective noun, and these creatures will sometimes find themselves paired with a plural verb, and sometimes with a singular one. They most often occur as the main word in the subject of a clause or the object of a verb. Because most american speakers recoil from using a plural verb or plural pronouns with a collective noun, sentences like the following strike the american ear as utterly wrong. The flock of birds are splitting up and flying away from each other. However, in the second example, the shoal is considered as lots of individuals, and shoal is considered plural. A collective noun denotes one undivided whole and takes a singular verb. Jun 05, 2017 a collective noun refers to a group of people or things. A collective noun looks singular, but it can be treated as singular or plural depending on whether the word refers to the group as a single entity or to its members as individuals.
Juul 1975 and crystal 1997 define collective nouns as nouns that can cooccur with a singular or a plural verb. Collective plural definition of collective plural by the. What is the difference between plural and collective nouns. Nevertheless, the use of a singular or plural verb can depend on.
Quirk et al 1985 take collective nouns to be those that can cooccur with a singular or a plural verb or singular or plural pronoun. A12 gramatica da lingua inglesa collective nouns complete the expressions with the following collective nouns. A collective noun takes both singular and plural verb. What these two wouldbe grammar gurus are talking about here is mass nouns, not collective nouns in american english, collective nouns usually take a singular verb. When the parts of a collective noun are functioning as individual units, use the plural form of the verb. While collective nouns are mostly treated as singular, there are exceptions.
Collective nouns exercise english practice learn and. It is a form of common noun which provides a defined term to describe plural units. Herd, flock, swarm, and crowd are all collective nouns for animals. This means that the plural pronouns they and their are used, as is the plural form of the verb eat.
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