are collective nouns singular or plural
Collective Nouns. Collective nouns are names for a collection or a number of people or things. Words like group, herd, and array are collective noun examples. Here, we’ll take a closer look at collective nouns, and provide even more examples, placing them in context so you can gain a greater understanding of how they work. Care should be taken that the same collective noun is not treated as both singular and plural in the same sentence: the family is well and sends its best wishes or the family are all well and send their best wishes, but not the family is well and send their best wishes. Exercise Directions: Write down the collective noun and the correct verb choice that will agree with the collective noun. (Use the hint above to help you get the correct answer.) Remember that s on the end of a verb indicates a singular verb. collective noun. n. 1. (Grammar) a noun that is singular in form but that refers to a group of people or things. Usage: Collective nouns are usually used with singular verbs: the family is on holiday; General Motors is mounting a big sales campaign. Hint: To decide whether the collective noun is singular or plural, substitute the word it for the collective noun. If the sentence still makes sense when you substitute it, the collective noun is singular. If you can substitute they, the collective noun is plural. A collective noun can be considered as either singular or plural depending on the sense of the sentence. If it's too hard to make a decision on singular or plural, precede your collective noun with words like members of, forcing you to go plural. usage: Whether a collective noun will be used with a singular or plural verb typically depends on whether the word refers to the group as a unit or to its members as individuals. In American English a noun naming an organization regarded as a unit is usu. Collective nouns are words for single things that are made up of more than one person, animal, place, thing, or idea. You can’t have a team without individual members; even so, we discuss a team as a single entity. Collective Nouns and Verb Agreement Practice. : A collective noun is a noun that names a group that is made up of individuals. Examples: herd; team; class; audience; fleet; swarm; army; crowd, etc. : The collective noun has a singular meaning when one speaks about a group as a unit. Example: The family sits down to dinner. → Herd is a singular collective noun. Follows is a singular verb, and the word its is a singular pronoun. All the animals in the herd arrive at the watering hole at the same time. 1  Today, Ms. Kennedy’s class takes its SOL test.
Singular