Which would you rather have?

A new skateboard.
A new guitar.
A new outfit.
A new iPod.

View Results

Collective Nouns

A word that stands for a group of things is called a collective noun. In fact, the word group itself is a collective noun. Here are a few others: club, team, committee, furniture, jury, Congress, swarm, herd.

Usually these nouns are treated as singular, since the emphasis is on a unit rather than its parts.

  • The team is going on the bus.

  • The committee wants to find a solution to the problem.

But when you want to emphasize the individual parts of a group, you may treat a collective noun as plural.

  • The team have argued about going on the bus.

  • The committee want different solutions to the problem.

If the plural sounds awkward, try rewriting.

  • The team members have argued about going on the bus.

  • Committee members disagree about solutions to the problem.

Cite this article

cover
Learn the Words You Should Know
Vocabulary Puzzles is the fun way to ace the SAT, ACT, GRE, LSAT & more!
The Ultimate Learning Experience!
WATCH the film and READ the lit note for a fast way to study!
Learn more!
Learn Shakespeare on the Double!
Get the original text and a line-for-line modern English translation.
Learn more!