The Collective Noun Exercises 6q251

T h e

C o l l e c t i v e

N o u n

Recognize a collective noun when you see one.Nouns name people, places, and things. Collective nouns, a special class, name groups [things] composed of [usually people]. army council minority Check out the chart below: audience

department

navy

board

faculty

public

cabinet

family

school

class

firm

senate

committee

group

society

company

jury

team

corporation

majority

troupe

Example : Every afternoon the baseball team follows its coach out to the hot field for practice. After the three-hour practice under the brutal sun, the team shower, change into their street clothes, and head to their air-conditioned homes. A collective noun is a noun that is singular in form but refers to a group of people or things. Sometimes they refer to a group of specific things:For example:Tables, chairs, cupboards etc. are grouped under the collective noun furniture. Plates, saucers, cups and bowls are grouped under the collective noun crockery. These collective nouns are often uncountable. Sometimes they are more general:For example:Groups of people - army, audience, band, choir, class, committee, crew, family, gang, jury, orchestra, police, staff, team, trio Groups of animals - colony, flock, herd, pack, pod, school, swarm Groups of things - bunch, bundle, clump, pair, set, stack When such a group is considered as a single unit, the collective noun is used with a singular verb and singular pronouns. For example - The committee has reached its decision. But when the focus is on the individual of the group, British English uses a plural verb and plural pronouns. For example - "The committee have been arguing all morning." This is the same as saying "The people in the committe have been ...." A determiner in front of a singular collective noun is always singular: this committee , never these committee (but of course when the collective noun is pluralized, it takes a plural determiner: these committees ).

Write down the collective noun and the correct verb choice that will agree with the collective noun. 1. The class (describes, describe) their vacations. 2. The whole class (meet, meets) at 3 PM. 3. The family (takes, take) a trip to Houghton Lake, Michigan. 4. The chess club (compare, compares) their strategies so as to win the tournament. 5. The swarm of reporters (engulfs, engulf) the famous actor all at once. 6. The audience (cheer, cheers) the winner of the million dollars. 7. The orchestra (performs, perform) my favorite music. 8. The baseball team (practice, practices) together every evening. 9. The public (, s) the travel baseball league. 10. The troop (disappears, disappear) in different directions. 11. The crowd (moves, move) to their favorite places along the parade route. 12. The team (is, are) putting on their helmets.

13. The stage crew (has, have) completed the scenery. 14. The orchestra (was, were) tuning up one by one. (underline is a clue!) 15. For weeks, the cast (was, were) rehearsing their lines with one another (clue!)