Hello reader! Welcome. We all know that noun is one of the elements of parts of speech in the English language. It is important to learn in detail about all the different types of parts of speech. Among nouns, one of the important types is the collective noun. In this article, we are going to see in-depth notes about the collective nouns, its definition, rules, and some examples.
Definition of Collective Nouns
Any noun that represents a specific group of people or things is called a Collective Noun. In short, a noun that refers to a collection of common nouns is a collective noun. There are many examples of collective nouns. Some of them are:
Rules
The most important rue of a collective noun is that it is usually singular. Hence, the helping verb is/was comes after the collective noun instead of are/were. For example,
- The committee agrees to the decision.
- The class commences at 10 AM.
- The legislature passes the bills.
However, when the individual noun of the collective nouns is mentioned in a form or in spirit, the plural is used.
- The committee members are discussing the verdict.
- The students in the class are dispersing.
Some More Examples
The following are some examples of a collection of people:
- A troop of soldiers
- A panel of Judges
- A gang of robbers
- A crowd of protestors
- A company of actors
The following are some examples of a collection of things:
- A bouquet of flowers
- A string of pearls
- A galaxy of stars
- A pile of sand
- A bunch of keys
- A row of buildings
- A junction of roads
- A packet of chocolates
- A box of crackers
While using collective nouns, it is important to use proper verbs and pronouns to make sure the sentence is grammatically correct. As mentioned above, some collective nouns are singular and some are mentioned in the plural. So, be careful while writing a sentence with collective nouns.
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