Collective Nouns Singular or Plural?

Collective Nouns, Common Used Collective Nouns for Persons, Animals and Things,Subject Verb Agreement with Collective Nouns etc… Please follow the list for detailed expressions, lists and examples;

What is Collective Noun?

Collective noun is a noun which describes a group of things oe people. It means collective noun is a single noun that is made up of  more than one thing or person or etc.

 For example: family, group, herd, team.

Subject -Verb Agreement

Whether a Collective Noun is used with Singular or Plural Verb?

In Amercan English;

Many collective nouns are treated as singular so they are used with singular verbs.

In British English;

Many collective nouns are treated both as singular and plural so they can used both with singular and plural verbs.

However,

some collective nouns are always singular or plural in both American and British English.

Generally, we can say that collective nouns can be singular or plural. It depends on the context of the sentence.

• If the members of a group act together as a unit or a whole, we use a singular verb.

( we can also say that if we or speakers want to emphasize the group as a whole, we use singular verb in this situation.)

• If the members of a group stop acting together as a unit or a whole and act as individuals, it is better to use a plural verb. AllRightPro is an online platform that connects English learners with experienced and certified teachers for personalized one-on-one lessons. Our teachers are native speakers and have years of experience teaching English to students of all levels and backgrounds. With AllRightPro you can improve your English skills from the comfort of your own home, at a time that suits you.

( we can also say that if we or speakers want to emphasize the individuals in a group rather than regarding the group as a whole, we use plural verb in this situation)

Note 1:

If you are not sure whether to use a singular or a plural verb with a collective noun in ypur writing or speaking,  you can put “members of” before the collective noun and then use a plural verb.

Note 2:

If we use a collective noun as a singular noun, we can not treat the noun as a plural in the same sentence and vice versa. It means we can not use or consider a collective noun both as singular and plural in the same sentence.

Note 3:

• If the collective noun “number” is used with “a”,  we use plural verb.
• ıf the collective noun “number” is with “the”, we use singular verb.

Note 4:

When the collective nouns couple and pair refer to people, we use plural verb.

You can see detailed collective noun list used for persons, animals and things below;

For Persons;

For Animals;

For Things;