![]() In American English, they are usually treated as singular and followed by a singular verb. How do you know whether a collective noun should be singular or plural?Ĭollective nouns are singular in form but plural in meaning. There are around two hundred collective nouns in English. How many collective nouns exist in English? Common collective nouns for peopleĬollective noun FAQs What is a collective noun?Ī collective noun is a common noun that names a group of people, creatures, or objects. Other collective nouns are more specific in what they refer to. Sam picked up a bunch of magazines before getting on their flight. Many collective nouns-such as group, bunch, couple, and pair-are general enough or flexible enough that they can be applied to people, animals, or objects.Ī bunch of my coworkers are going to that concert. The group of passengers will scatter as soon as they disembark. It has recouped most of its losses from last winter. The company is doing very well this quarter. For example, if you use a pronoun to refer back to the collective noun, it should also agree with the collective noun and the verb in number. When you decide whether to treat a collective noun as a singular or a plural, make sure you’re consistent about its number throughout any section of writing that it appears in. The members of the jury were staying in hotel rooms while they were sequestered. The jury were staying in hotel rooms while they were sequestered. Both sentences are grammatically correct, but in the second, no reader will trip on or question the use of the plural noun were. In the second, the plural noun members has become the subject. In the first, the collective noun jury is the subject. If you are struggling with a sentence because a particular collective noun / plural verb combination sounds awkward to your ear, one option is to turn the collective noun into a more straightforward plural by adding “members of” or similar. The police were already there when we arrived on the scene. Note that there are a few exceptions to this rule of thumb, such as the collective noun police, which always takes a plural verb. The pod of dolphins was approaching the ship. The club meets every Wednesday after school. In other words, unless there’s a compelling argument for making them plural-as in the examples in the preceding section, in which the emphasis is on the individual members of the group-it’s always appropriate to use a singular verb with them. 1Ī good rule of thumb for using collective nouns in American English is to err on the side of treating them as singular. Here are a few more tips to help you along. Once you’ve mastered that, collective nouns are simple to use in your writing. 3 tips on how to use collective nounsĪs we’ve seen, keeping collective nouns in agreement with the verbs they appear alongside can be tricky. It seemed like the staff were always taking their lunch break when we stopped by the shop. In British English, it’s far more common to treat collective nouns as plural: The choir were all warming up in different keys.Īmong the student body, the majority are Californians. My family mostly have their birthdays in the fall and winter. However, it’s also correct-and quite common-to treat a collective noun as plural when what is being communicated is that the members or components of a group are acting individually rather than as a unit: Residents of the town said a drove of pigs that had escaped from a local farm was destroying their yards and gardens. The film festival’s selection committee consists of filmmakers, film programmers, and critics. ![]() In American English, collective nouns more often than not appear with singular verbs: This can make choosing the right verb to use with a collective noun when it’s the subject of a sentence or clause (that is, maintaining subject-verb agreement) a bit tricky-it’s almost like they’re plural and singular at the same time! Are collective nouns singular or plural?Īlthough they refer to multiple things at once by definition, collective nouns are singular in form. Paleontologists found a set of fossils in Argentina from the bones of an Achillesaurus or a closely related species. Traffic on the road was temporarily stopped by a flock of wild turkeys that was making its way across. The audience at the midafternoon showing was especially appreciative of the comedic parts of the movie. Grammarly helps you communicate confidently Write with Grammarly What is a collective noun?Ī collective noun is a common noun that names a group of people, creatures, or objects:
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