Terms of venery are collective nouns used to describe a group of animals (e.g., a herd of cows or a flock of sheep). But the plural verb “have” implies the team members have each gone to their own homes separately.Ĭare over verb choice is therefore vital for clear, error-free writing. The first uses the singular verb “is,” which implies the team members have gone home to the same place. While both are grammatically correct, each sentence here is slightly different. For example, we could use a singular or plural verb in the following: In practice, you can often use either form in a sentence.

When the members of a group are acting as individuals, use a plural verb.

When a group is acting as one, use a singular verb.

To decide which verb form to use with a collective noun, remember: Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter! Picking the Right Verb

In this case, we treat “family” as plural because we’re discussing the family as a group of individuals rather than as a group working together. This is because we’re discussing the family as a whole. My family is having a reunion this weekend.

Use a plural verb when treating a collective noun as a group of individuals.įor example, we could say something like:.

Use a singular verb when treating a collective noun as a single unit.

In American English, the general rule for collective nouns is: This can be a little complicated with collective nouns, though. Subject–verb agreement is the idea that singular nouns should be paired with singular verbs, while plural nouns should be used with plural verbs. For instance, “water” is a mass noun because we can’t have just one water, nor do we have groups of “waters.” Are Collective Nouns Singular or Plural? Rather than a group, mass nouns refer to an undifferentiated mass of something. Try not to get these confused with mass nouns (otherwise known as “uncountable nouns”). In fact, “group” itself is a collective noun, as are “team” and “family.” The key is that collective nouns refer to a group whose members can be counted. What Are Collective Nouns?Ī collective noun names a group or collection of things or people. So should we treat them as singular or plural? In this post, we try to clear up this grammatical mystery as well as outlining what makes a word a “collective” noun. They look singular but they describe a group.

Collective nouns can be confusing if you’re not sure what they are.

What is collective noun