{"id":14212,"date":"2020-08-21T17:09:54","date_gmt":"2020-08-21T15:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/?p=14212"},"modified":"2020-09-03T10:31:02","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T08:31:02","slug":"collective-nouns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2020\/08\/collective-nouns\/","title":{"rendered":"Collective Nouns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Level: Beginner-Intermediate<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A collective noun is a word used to represent a group of people, animals, or things, it therefore includes more than one member.<\/strong> You can\u2019t have a team without individual members; even so, we discuss a team as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that nouns are words naming people, animals, places, and things. Collective nouns are in a class all their own. Collective nouns can be singular or plural<\/strong>, depending on a sentence\u2019s context. Always treat a collective noun as singular unless the context highlights the individuals in the group.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The audience<\/strong> is happy.
The audience<\/strong> are all wearing formal attire.
(In the first sentence audience is singular. In the second, it’s plural.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

If you’re uncomfortable treating a collective noun as singular or plural, put a term like members of in front so it reads smoothly as a plural.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The members of the audience<\/strong> are all wearing formal attire.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Here is a list of common collective nouns that contain words that describe groups of animals, people, or things. Some of these words can be interchangeable and are used to describe different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some examples of common collective nouns used for people<\/strong>.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A crowd<\/strong> – A crowd of people cheered the nurses.
A panel<\/strong> – I spoke in front of a panel of experts.
A band<\/strong> – A band of musicians performed at our party.
A board<\/strong> – The board of directors had a meeting this afternoon.
A choir<\/strong> – A choir of singers performed in the concert.
A troupe<\/strong> – I joined a troupe of dancers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Here are some examples of common collective nouns used for animals<\/strong>.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A flock<\/strong> – A flock of birds flew south.
A flock<\/strong> – I reared a flock of sheep
A hive<\/strong> – I saw a hive of bees in the tree.
A litter<\/strong> – There is a litter of puppies in the pound.
A pack<\/strong> – A pack of wolves surrounded us.
A school<\/strong> – I swam with a school of fish.
A pride<\/strong> – I saw a pride of lions in the sanctuary.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Common Collective Nouns Used for Things<\/strong>
Here are some examples of common collective nouns used for things:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bouquet<\/strong> – My husband gave a bouquet of flowers on our anniversary.
A bunch<\/strong> – I picked a bunch of flowers from the garden.
A forest<\/strong> – I got lost in a forest of trees.
A pack<\/strong> – I bought a pack of cards.
A pair<\/strong> – This pair of shoes fits me well.
A wad<\/strong> – She has a wad of notes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Level: Beginner-Intermediate A collective noun is a word used to represent a group of people, animals, or things, it therefore includes more than one member. You can\u2019t have a team without individual members; even so, we discuss a team as a whole. Remember that nouns are words naming people, animals, places, and things. Collective nouns […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[309],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar"],"yoast_head":"\nCollective Nouns | phone english blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2020\/08\/collective-nouns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Collective Nouns | phone english blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Level: Beginner-Intermediate A collective noun is a word used to represent a group of people, animals, or things, it therefore includes more than one member. 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