What are Collective Nouns?

Collective nouns are words that represent a group of people, animals, or things. They are singular in form but refer to multiple individuals as a single unit.

Examples of Collective Nouns

Some examples of collective nouns include:

Team: A team of players
Herd: A herd of cattle
Flock: A flock of birds
Family: A family of siblings
Class: A class of students

Usage of Collective Nouns

Collective nouns can be used in sentences to refer to a group as a single entity. For example:

The team is playing well.
The herd is grazing in the field.
The flock is flying south for the winter.

Subject-Verb Agreement

When using collective nouns in sentences, it's important to remember that they can take either singular or plural verbs, depending on the context. For example:

The team is working together. (Singular verb)
The team are arguing among themselves. (Plural verb)

Identifying Collective Nouns

One way to identify collective nouns is to look for words that represent a group, such as "group," "team," "class," "herd," "flock," "family," and "audience."