Can a collective noun be singular or plural?

Can a collective noun be singular or plural?

A collective noun can be 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 a term like “members of,” forcing you to go plural. For example: The team is showing signs of frustration.

Is the word pair singular or plural?

A pair is two of something, but a pair can be singular or plural—it’s one of those odd English nouns (like “couple”) that can be singular or plural depending on how you’re thinking of the people or items in question.

Is a group of singular or plural?

When the group is being considered as a whole, it can be treated as a single entity: “the group was ready to go on stage.” But when the individuality of its members is being emphasized, “group” is plural: “the group were in disagreement about where to go for dinner.”

What are 4 examples of collective nouns?

Examples of Collective Nouns

• Collective noun for bees – Swarm.
• Collective noun for fish – Shoal or School.
• Collective noun for sheep – Herd.
• Collective noun for ships – Fleet.
• Collective noun for birds – Flock.
• Collective noun for lions – Pride.
• Collective noun for wolves – Pack.
• Collective noun for ants – Colony.

What’s a plural collective noun?

A collective noun is treated as plural when the group it names is considered to be made up of individuals. Because members of the group can act on their own, the word is considered plural.

What are the singular and plural nouns?

In short, this means that a singular noun refers to only one person or thing and a plural noun refers to more than one person or thing. Let’s look more closely at each of these two types of nouns so we can better understand the difference.

Is shorts singular or plural?

The noun shorts is plural only. The plural form of shorts is also shorts.

Is spectacles plural or singular?

The plural form of spectacle; more than one (kind of) spectacle. Spectacles are a pair of eyeglasses.

How do you use collective nouns?

Nouns in the collective class can be used in either the singular or plural form, depending on the context of the sentence.

1. Family is a collective noun because it refers to more than one person sharing a relationship.
2. You can also use this collective noun in its plural form, families, to refer more than one family.

Are collective nouns-singular or plural?

Collective nouns – singular or plural? Collective nouns, or group nouns, are nouns such as family, government, class or committee, which refer to groups of people or things. While these are technically singular nouns, they are commonly used as if they were plurals, specially in British English.

What nouns are singular and plural in English?

Collective nouns such as team, family, government, and committeeare usually treated as singular in American English and plural in British English.

Is the court a singular or a collective noun?

Yet the court is a singular entity, no matter how many judges make it up. If the writer is thinking of the judges individually, it would be better to write this: The judges must first determine if they have jurisdiction. Collective nouns are generally singular and take singular verbs and pronouns.

Is government singular or plural in British English?

In British English, prefer the plural verb with collective nouns ( the government are . . ., the committee are . . . ), unless speaking of the group as a single unit. Also keep in mind that some nouns, such as police, are always plural.