Collective Nouns Example

They are known as collective nouns which refer to a set of beings, be it animals, people or things, that belong to the same group, class or category. They should not be confused with plural nouns which refer to two or more units.

What is the difference between a plural noun and a collective noun?

Although both indicate plurality, that is, more than one element, the main difference is that Whileplural nouns indicate various units by adding –s or –es to the singular form, or if it remains unchanged when indicating the plurality in the other elements that accompany the noun (articles or adjectives), collective nouns represent the notion of plurality in its singular form. This means that collective nouns do not need to be transformed into a plural form to name a set of beings; for a noun to be collective it must refer in its singular form to a plurality. For example, the following nouns:

• A dozen people were waiting their turn. (The noun dozen It is in the singular and denotes more than one object, specifically, twelve).
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• The flock of sheep was scattered. (The noun flock is in the singular and denotes a set of animals).
• The group of students paid attention. (The word group It is in the singular and denotes more than one person or object that forms a set).
• The skeleton human is made up of 206 bones. (The word skeleton is in the singular and denotes a set or plurality of bones).

Collective nouns can be plural.

This plural form, which ends in –s or –es, will indicate that it is about two or more units of the set of beings named by the collective noun. For example:

• Nails dozens people were waiting their turn. (This plural indicates that it is more than a dozen; by itself the noun dozen already gives the idea of ​​plurality).
• The flocks of sheep were scattered. (This plural indicates that it is more than one herd; itself flock already gives an idea of ​​plurality).
• The groups students were paying attention. (This plural indicates that it involves more than one set of students; the word group it already indicates that there is a plurality of people united under some criterion or circumstance).
• The museum had many skeletons. (This plural indicates that it is more than one skeleton; the word skeleton already gives an idea of ​​plurality).

Examples of collective nouns

1. Alphabet = set of letters.
2. Alphabet = set of letters of the alphabet.
3. Student body = set of students.
4. Grove = set of trees.
5. Archipelago = set of islands.
6. Navy = set of naval forces.
7. Band = set of thugs.
8. Band = set of musicians who play instruments.
9. Flock = set of birds.
10. library = set of books.
11. Horseback = set of horses.
12. Litter = set of young dogs and other animals.
13. Shoal = set of fish.
14. Hamlet = set of houses.
15. Clan = set of relatives who have strong ties and are exclusive.
16. Clergy = set of clerics.
17. Brotherhood = set of priests or monks.
18. Chorus = set of singers.
19. Pantry = set of foods.
20. Dictionary = set of words with their definitions.
21. army = set of soldiers.
22. Swarm = set of bees.
23. Family = set of relatives.
24. Federation = set of states that form a nation.
25. Film library = set of films.
26. Fleet = set of vehicles (planes, cars, boats).
27. Sound library = set of sound recordings.
28. Form = set of formulas.
29. Hen house = set of chickens.
30. Livestock = set of animals.
31. Crowd = set of people.
32. Guild = set of people dedicated to a mass professional or craft activity.
33. Flock = set of parishioners.
34. Herd = set of animals.
35. Newspaper library = set of newspapers.
36. Horde = set of violent people.
37. Pack = set of dogs.
38. Legislation = set of laws.
39. Teaching = set of teachers.
40. Cornfield = set of corn plants.
41. Herd = set of animals.
42. Crowd = set of people.
43. Olive grove = set of olive trees.
44. Orchestra = set of musicians.
45. Bony = set of loose bones.
46. Gang = set of evil beings, gang members.
47. Flock = set of birds.
48. Platoon = set of troops.
49. Herd = set of pigs.
50. Gallery = set of paintings or works of art.
51. Pinewood = Set of pines.
52. Recipe book = set of recipes.
53. Train = set of pack animals.
54. Sect = set of people who follow a doctrine.
55. treasure = set of coins, money or precious objects.
56. Pipeline = set of tubes.
57. Crockery = set of plates, glasses, etc.
58. Locker room = set of clothes.
59. Video library = set of video recordings.
60. Vineyard = set of vines.

It may interest you:

• Individual nouns.

Classification of collective nouns:

Collective nouns are classified into:

1. Determined

Definite collective nouns, also called defined, are those that designate a group whose identity is known of its elements. That is to say, by itself the word already tells us which entities or beings make up the plurality of which it speaks. For example:

• Suddenly a crowd.

The word crowd name a set of people; by itself, the word tells us the identity of its elements.

• Me family  it is very numerous.

The collective noun family it is determined because the nature of the elements that compose it is known: a set of relatives.

• The seller showed me the sample book.

Sample book It is a collective noun determined because by itself it indicates the identity of the elements that make up the set: samples.

• Last night my grandmother lost her teeth.

The collective noun teeth it is determined because it alludes to what makes up the set: teeth.

2. Indeterminate or undefined

Indeterminate collective nouns, also called indefinites, are those nouns that designate a group whose identity or specifically the class of elements that make it up is unknown. make up. The components of these nouns are unknown and have to be specified by means of a complement. Some examples are:

• A handful of walnuts.

Handful is an indeterminate collective noun that by itself does not specify the nature of its components. They are specified by means of the complement "of nuts".

• A heap children's.

Heap is a collective noun of which we do not know the identity of its components. These are specified with the complement "of children".

• A thousand of coins.

Thousand is a collective noun that denotes a group of entities that in their totality add up to a thousand, but not specifies the nature of these entities, so they must be specified by a complement: “de coins ”.

Collective nouns are also divided into lexical and morphological according to the way they are structured:

1. The lexical collective nouns are those that are not formed by means of suffixes; They are words that do not derive from others. For example: people, family, crowd, heap, choir, etc.

1. Morphological collective nouns are those that are formed with suffixes that add to a word the sense of plurality. These collective nouns are formed with the following suffixes:

• -erious, -erious. For example: chiquillerio, womanerio, freeeria.
• -Aryan. For example: acuAryan, epistolAryan, horAryan.
• -eda. For example: treeage, hazelage.
• -ada. For example: bandada, yeguada.
• -ado. For example: populationadored, illuminatedadored, studentadored.
• -to the. For example: ceremonial, fortune.
• -age. For example: RAMaje, voltaje.