English — Collective Nouns: Agreement and Usage — 2nd Year Literary Stream

Collective Nouns: Agreement and Usage

Collective nouns are words that refer to a group of people, animals, or things as a single unit.

1. Common Collective Nouns

For people: team, family, committee, audience, government, staff, class.
For animals: herd (cows), flock (sheep), pack (wolves), swarm (bees), school (fish).
For things: bunch (grapes), set (tools), collection (stamps), fleet (ships).

2. Verb Agreement

In British English, collective nouns can take singular or plural verbs depending on whether the group is seen as a unit or individuals. In American English, they usually take singular verbs. Examples: “The team is playing well.” (BrE/AmE) / “The team are arguing among themselves.” (BrE only).

3. Exercises

1. Complete with correct verb: The committee ______ (has/have) made its decision. / The audience ______ (was/were) clapping.
2. Identify the collective noun: A swarm of bees, a fleet of ships, a bunch of flowers.

Related Lessons

Check also: Comparatives and Superlatives and Question Tags.

Related Lessons:

• علوم الطبيعة والحياة — الحيوانات: تكيف الكائنات الحية — السنة الثالثة
• التربية الإسلامية — أحكام الطهارة: أنواعها وشروطها — 2ثانوي — شعبة آدا
• التربية الإسلامية — أحكام الصلاة: شروطها وأركانها — 2ثانوي — شعبة آداب