Collective Nouns
What Are Collective Nouns? (with Examples)
A collective noun is the word used to represent a group of people, animals, or things.Examples of Collective Nouns
Here are some examples of collective nouns:- Flock
- Crowd
- Committee
- Choir
- Group
- Team
Common Collective Nouns Used for People
Here are some examples of common collective nouns used for people:- A band of musicians
- A board of directors
- A choir of singers
- A class of students
- A crowd of people
- A gang of thieves
- A pack of thieves
- A panel of experts
- A team of players
- A troupe of dancers
Common Collective Nouns Used for Animals
Here are some examples of common collective nouns used for animals:- An army of ants
- A flock of birds
- A flock of sheep
- A herd of deer
- A hive of bees
- A litter of puppies
- A murder of crows
- A pack of hounds
- A pack of wolves
- A school of fish
- A swarm of locusts
- A team of horses
- A pride of lions
Common Collective Nouns Used for Things
Here are some examples of common collective nouns used for things:- A bouquet of flowers
- A bunch of flowers
- A fleet of ships
- A forest of trees
- A galaxy of stars
- A pack of cards
- A pack of lies
- A pair of shoes
- A range of mountains
- A wad of notes
A Quick Test
You can treat a collective noun as singular or plural depending on the sense of your sentence. For example:
To avoid confusion, add a word to denote the members of the group:
- The audience is happy.
- The audience are all wearing comedy wigs.
To avoid confusion, add a word to denote the members of the group:
- The members of the audience are happy.
- The members of the audience are all wearing comedy wigs.
- The group is happy with their performance. (is = singular / their = plural)
- The group is happy with its performance. (is = singular / its = singular)
TERMS OF VENERY
Words used to describe a specific group of things (usually animals) are called terms of venery. They are also collective nouns. Examples:- colony of ants
- hive of bees
- school of dolphins
- parliament of owls
- cloud of bats
- mob of kangaroos
Some collective nouns are quite versatile. For example, you can say:
- a pack of cards.
- a pack of thieves
- a pack of wolves
- a bouquet of wolves
- a swarm of lions
- a litter of ships
- a pack of ships (This gives the idea of ships hunting likes wolves or thieves. It brings pirates to mind.)
- a forest of soldiers (This gives the idea of thousands of soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder.)
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