
The members of the jury were divided in their views. Quick tip: Add a word to denote the members of the group to make it unambiguous. (Each family member has asked for a separate gift.) So ultimately collective nouns are used to modify or quantify a bunch of countable nouns as a single cumulative unit. Use collective nouns when you want to address a group of nouns as a unit simultaneously. Kevin's family have asked him to buy them Christmas gifts. In short, collective nouns are countable nouns. Collective nouns identify a group of things or nounsfor example, a bush of thorns, a bunch of flowers, or a pack of spades.

You can’t have a team without individual members even so, we discuss a team as a single entity. In this example, the collective noun committee is a group that has a unified purpose today: deciding the fate of John’s proposal. Their acting as a unit will mean you must use a singular verb or pronoun, just as their functioning as individuals would mean you should use a plural verb or pronoun. Collective nouns are words for single things that are made up of more than one person, animal, place, thing, or idea. Quick tip: The trick is to verify if the members of a collective noun are acting as a unit or individuals. There are, however, instances when the verb can be either singular or plural.

Verb and Pronoun Agreement with a Collective NounĬollective nouns mostly take a singular verb. We can easily spot a herd of sheep on the mountains walk path. The collective noun "herd" can be used to refer to a group of deer, elephants, and cattle. Collective Noun Examples with Detailed Explanations 1.

(collective noun)Ĭollective Nouns that Can Be Used for More Than One Noun Differentiating between a Collective Noun and a Countable NounĪs they refer to a group of countable nouns as a unit, collective nouns are a subcategory of countable nouns.
