collective noun

collective noun

1. A collective noun is one that is singular in form and denotes a number of individuals, for example audience, choir, committee, flock, multitude. Apart from the names of individual animals, birds, etc. (deer, grouse, sheep, trout) and names for groups of them (a pride of lions, a gaggle of geese, etc.), and names of institutions, firms, and teams (CNN, Ernst and Young, Real Madrid, etc.), there are some 200 collective nouns in common use in English.

2. The principal question of usage with collective nouns is whether they should be treated as singular or plural. In BrE, the practice is well established of construing them either with a singular verb to emphasize unity or with a plural verb to emphasize individuality. The point is more fully discussed at agreement ³. It is particularly important to maintain consistency within a statement, avoiding, for example, a singular verb with a plural pronoun following, as in ☒ A family displaced by fighting prepares [singular] to return to their [plural]

• village —Independent, 2006.

3. When a collective noun is followed by of + plural noun or pronoun (as in a number of people), there is a general preference for a plural construction:

• A large number of conductors want to hear the great artists —Dædalus, 1986

• A handful of their members have been agents of Moscow —London Review of Books, 1987

but again a singular is used when collectivity rather than individuality is the main point:

• A decade ago there was only a handful of bioethicists in the country —British Medical Journal, 1978.

See also number of.

4. Names of institutions and political entities, e.g. the United States, the United Nations, the Vatican, the Commons, Congress, are always treated as singular whether the form of the name is singular or plural (e.g.

• The United States has demanded a more open Japan —Dædalus, 1987

• The CEGB finds it 25 per cent cheaper to buy in French electricity —Daily Telegraph, 1987).

5. Names of animals, birds, and fish that are the same in the singular and plural are treated as singular or plural (or as a singular mass noun) accordingly: Five bison were grazing in a shaded part of the valley / Trout will for some time still be a premium fish, selling at about £1 each.

6. For collective nouns of the type a pride of lions etc., see proper terms.