UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CHIMBORAZO

FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN, HUMANAS Y

TECNOLOGÍAS

CARRERA DE IDIOMAS

GRAMMAR V

COLLECTIVE NOUNS

INTEGRANTS:

RONALD MARROQUÍN

PATRICIA VINUEZA

2015

COLLECTIVE NOUNS

A collective noun is a noun that can be singular in form whilst referring to a group

of people or things.

Groups of people - army, audience, band, choir, class, committee, crew, family, gang, jury,

orchestra, police, staff, team, trio

Groups of animals - colony, flock, herd, pack, pod, school, swarm

Groups of things - bunch, bundle, clump, pair, set, stack

PLURAL OR SINGULAR?

When the unit is acting in unison, it is appropriate to use the singular.

Ex. The class waits [singular verb] for its [singular pronoun] teacher quietly. (The

class is referred to as a unit acting in unison. The students are all doing the same

thing at the same time.)

When the members of the unit are acting as individuals, it is appropriate to use

plural forms of verbs and pronouns.

Ex. The class begin [plural verb] their [plural pronoun] homework assignments

while they [plural pronoun] wait [plural verb] for their [plural pronoun] teacher.

(The students are a unit, but are acting as individuals -- they each doing their own

homework assignments.)

Common Collective Nouns

Groups of people working together

Army: an organized military force equipped for fighting on land.

Cast: the actors in a certain movie or play.

Crew: all the working members on a ship or plane.

Family: a group of people usually related by blood.

Gang: an organized group of criminals.

Staff: the people who work in a company or place of work.

Team: a group of individuals playing on the same side generally with the same

objectives.

Groups of people in general

Audience: spectators or listeners at a public event.

Crowd: a group of people, gathered together.

Mob: a large disorderly crowd.

Movement: a group of people with similar political/musical/social ideals.

Throng: a busy group of people or animals.

Groups of animals

Herd: a herd of cows, a herd of goats, a herd of deer

Flock: a flock of sheep, a flock of birds

Litter: a litter of kittens (usually of baby animals)

Pack: a pack of wolves, a pack of dogs

Shoal / School: a shoal of fish, a school of fish

Swarm: a swarm of bees (swarm is used for a group of flying insects)

Exercise.

1. Some spectators in the  disagreed with the referee's decision.

2. She was attacked by a of wasps.

3. The  applauded the new play enthusiastically.

4. That cruise ship carries 150 passengers and a  of 85.

5. He was the leader of a well-known  of criminals.

6. A  of shouting people overturned cars, set the fire to shops and attacked the

police station.

7. In spring   of birds arrive back in Britain after spending the winter in Africa.

Choose the best answer.

1. I had so much fun in Hawaii swimming with a _________ of fish.

A. school

B. bevy

C. army

crow d

sw arm

audience

crew

gang

mob

flock

2. A ______ of cows was transported to a farm in Texas for slaughter. 

A. pack

B. herd/ drove

C. pod

3. On my African trip, I saw a ________ of lions.

A. pride

B. pack

C. bundle

4. The boy saw a _______ of sheep grazing in the fields. 

A. flock

B. swarm

C. bevy

LINKOGRAPHY

Learning English,(2015). Collective nouns. Recuperado de:

http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/listcollectivenouns.html#sthash.GKRlMpF1.dpuf

Your Dictionary,(1996-2015).Collective nouns. Recuperado de:

http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/nouns/Collective-Nouns.html

Users. Collective nouns. Recuperado de:

http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/collnoun.htm

CHompchomp,(1997-2015). The collective noun. Recuperado de:

http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/collectivenoun.htm

Wikipedia, (2015). Collective nouns. Recuperado de:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_noun

ELSA. Collective nouns exercises. Recuperado de:

http://esldivlabs.vcc.ca/ELSA/Instructor_Web_Exercises/Vocabulary/

Collective_Nouns_Multiple_Choice.htm