00:00First of all, what are collective nouns?
00:05A collective noun is a term used to represent a group or collection of people, animal, or things.
00:13The interesting thing about collective nouns is that they function as a unit,
00:20even though there are multiple people or animals or things inside that unit.
00:28Let me explain what this means with pictures.
00:33So this is a normal noun, an athlete.
00:37And there's one athlete, so it's a singular noun.
00:41When we add an S, we have athletes, referring to more than one athlete.
00:48And this is a plural noun.
00:50While a collective noun is team, for example.
00:55You can see there are many athletes on the team, but usually team is considered singular,
01:03even though there are many people on the team.
01:07This is a singular collective noun.
01:11Because we also have teams with an S, and this is a plural collective noun.
01:18We have the blue team and the red team.
01:22So let's talk a bit about singular versus plural collective nouns.
01:28Here's a normal noun.
01:30The athlete is running.
01:32We have a singular noun, so we use a singular verb.
01:37The athletes are trini.
01:41Here we have plural noun, so we use plural form of the verb to be.
01:46Now here we have a collective noun.
01:50The team has a match on Friday.
01:54And you can see that we've used the singular form of the verb have.
02:01The team has.
02:03It has a match on Friday.
02:07Not the team have.
02:09Because we're referring to the team as a single unit.
02:15It has a match on Friday.
02:18Now if we used a plural collective noun,
02:22the teams are waiting the referee's final decision.
02:27While in this case we're talking about two teams,
02:31so we use the plural form, are.
02:35The teams are waiting the referee's final decision.
02:40So a plural collective noun takes a plural verb.
02:44And a singular collective noun usually takes a singular verb.
02:50I encourage you to watch this entire video
02:54so you can understand exactly what I mean by this.
02:59Let's look at another example of a plural collective noun.
03:03This is a difficult one for many people.
03:06The family is Irish.
03:09We're talking about one family.
03:12The family is Irish.
03:14We use the singular form of the verb to be.
03:18Now if we're talking about multiple families,
03:21the families are Irish and French.
03:25Because we're talking about two families.
03:28The Irish family and the French family.
03:33So when does a singular collective noun take a plural verb?
03:38Or does it ever take a plural verb?
03:41Now this can depend if you're speaking American English or British English.
03:47So pay attention till the end of this video.
03:49So when the members within the collective noun act as a group,
03:55they're acting together as one,
03:58making one decision or doing one action.
04:01We use a singular verb.
04:03For example, my family is playing a board game.
04:08So my family is one unit.
04:10The members within the collective noun can act as individuals.
04:27And when this is the case and the members within the group are acting separately
04:32or acting as individuals and not doing the same thing or they disagree,
04:39we can use a plural verb.
04:42For example, my family are disagreeing about the rules.
04:48In this case, the focus is on different members of the family
04:53have different opinions and they are arguing.
04:56So in this case, we could use a plural verb to emphasize
05:01that the members are acting as individuals
05:04and they have different opinions.
05:07Now this is a little difficult
05:09and not all English-speaking countries follow this rule.
05:14So keep watching to understand more.
05:17More examples of collective nouns acting as a group
05:21where we use a singular verb
05:24and collective nouns acting as individuals
05:27when we could use a plural verb.
05:31The band is playing at the concert tonight.
05:35Band is also a collective noun.
05:37There are multiple people in the group.
05:40The band are tuning their individual instruments before the concert.
05:46For example, one member is tuning his guitar.
05:49Another member is tuning his piano.
05:52So we are referring to the group,
05:55but they are acting as individuals within the group.
05:59The jury decides the verdict unanimously.
06:03Here, we're referring to the jury of a court
06:06and they've decided he is guilty.
06:10They've made this decision as a group, as a single unit.
06:14Let's compare that with this sentence.
06:17The jury are split in their decision.
06:21Some members of the jury believe he is innocent
06:25and other members believe he is guilty.
06:28And so because they're not acting as a group with one opinion,
06:33we can use a plural verb,
06:36are, instead of, is.
06:39Another example.
06:41The class is going on a field trip.
06:45The class are working on their projects independently.
06:49Let's say it's a science class.
06:52Some students in the class are writing essays.
06:56Other students are doing experiments.
06:59They are working on their projects independently and not together.
07:03And in this case, we could use the plural verb,
07:07are, instead of, is working.
07:10Now, this is very important.
07:12This usage is more common in British English.
07:17In American English, a singular verb is usually preferred in both cases.
07:24So in American English, they would say the class is working on their projects independently
07:30or the band is tuning their individual instruments before the concert.
07:35Whereas in British English, it's more common to use the plural verb,
07:41in this case, when the group acts as individuals.
07:45So the most important thing is to be consistent.
07:50And if you are not sure which one to use,
07:54it's probably safest to use the singular verb because that is most common.
08:00Usually, we use a singular verb after a collective noun.
08:05It's only in very rare cases that we would use or need to use a plural verb
08:11because usually, the collective noun is acting as a group.
08:16Now let's talk about quantifying expressions
08:20and a collective noun plus of plus a plural noun.
08:27So in English, we often use collective nouns followed by of and a plural noun
08:33to describe specific quantities or groups of things or animals.
08:38For example, a herd of sheep, a pack of wolves, a bunch of grapes, a stack of books.
08:48In English, we use certain collective nouns when referring to certain animals or certain things.
08:55We would not say a pack of sheep.
08:58We always say a herd of sheep.
09:01So a herd refers to multiple sheep.
09:05And the pack refers to multiple wolves.
09:09So in the context of subject-verb agreement,
09:13the verb must agree with the collective noun,
09:16which is usually considered singular because it refers to a group as a single entity.
09:23For example,
09:24A herd of sheep is crossing the road,
09:28not a herd of sheep are crossing the road.
09:32A herd is.
09:34A pack of wolves is howling under the moonlight.
09:39A pack is, not a pack are.
09:43So we use singular verbs with collective nouns.
09:47Even though we have a plural noun here,
09:50we are referring to the collective noun.
09:53That's the subject.
09:56And as I taught you before,
09:59when we consider the group as a single entity,
10:01we use a singular verb.
10:04So a team of engineers is working on the project.
10:09Even though engineers is plural,
10:11we are referring to the team.
10:14The team is the subject.
10:16Now, when we consider the individuals within the group acting independently,
10:22we typically use a plural verb.
10:24Now again, this is more common in British English.
10:28I'm Canadian,
10:29and we use a mixture of American English and British English.
10:34So, a team of engineers are working on different parts of the project.
10:40If we compare these sentences,
10:43you can see in the second sentence,
10:46we are emphasizing that the engineers are each working on something different.
10:51And so we use the plural form of the verb.
10:56And once again,
10:57this is common in British English.
10:59In American English,
11:00they would likely say,
11:02a team of engineers is working on different parts of the project.
11:05Now,
11:06very important,
11:07the noun following of is always in plural form.
11:13Always.
11:15We say,
11:16a stack of books,
11:18not a stack of book.
11:20Because if it's just one book,
11:22it's not a stack.
11:24It's just a book.
11:25A pack of wolves,
11:27not a pack of wolf.
11:29Okay?
11:31Now,
11:32let's look at some other common collective nouns.
11:34We'll start with people.
11:36Group.
11:38Team.
11:39Family.
11:40Class.
11:41Crowd.
11:42Staff.
11:43Choir.
11:44Company.
11:45Band.
11:46Audience.
11:48Let's look at animals.
11:50A herd of elephants,
11:52for example.
11:53A flock of birds.
11:55A pack of wolves.
11:57A colony of ants.
11:59A school of fish.
12:01A litter of kittens.
12:03A brood of hens.
12:06A swarm of bees.
12:08A pride of lions.
12:10A gaggle of geese.
12:13And let's look at things.
12:16A batch of cookies.
12:18A stack of books.
12:20A bunch of grapes.
12:21A bundle of sticks.
12:23A set of keys.
12:25A pack of cards.
12:26A pair of shoes.
12:28A pile of clothes.
12:30A fleet of ships.
12:32A collection of stamps.
12:34There are many more collective nouns in English,
12:38and these are some of the common ones in each category.
12:42So now it's time for our quiz.
12:44There are ten questions in total.
12:46And you have to correct any mistakes of subject-verb agreement in these sentences.
12:52Number one.
12:54The team of scientists is working on individual research projects.
13:00Number two.
13:01The group of students are excited about the upcoming field trip.
13:06Number three.
13:08Pride of lions stalk its prey in the grasslands.
13:12Number four.
13:14The family is looking forward to moving to Australia.
13:18Number five.
13:19The rock band are playing at three different venues next week.
13:24Number six.
13:26A fleet of ships sails across the horizon.
13:30Number seven.
13:32The choir sing a beautiful song at the Christmas concert.
13:37Number eight.
13:38The government are planning to introduce new laws.
13:42Number nine.
13:43The families are from Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden.
13:47Finally, number ten.
13:49The committee meets every month to discuss issues.
14:06The team of scientists are working on individual research projects.
14:13Now, again, the subject is team, which usually uses a singular verb.
14:19But because the emphasis is on the scientists doing different things within the group, we use a plural verb.
14:29Again, this is common in British English.
14:32Number two is incorrect.
14:35The group of students are excited about the upcoming field trip.
14:39This should be is excited.
14:42The group is excited about the upcoming field trip.
14:47And this sentence is different from the first sentence because we are referring to the collective noun as one unit.
14:56The group is excited.
14:58It's different from number one, where the focus is on individuals within the group performing different actions.
15:06So the correct answer is is.
15:10Number three is incorrect.
15:12A pride of lions stalk its prey in the grasslands.
15:17It should be stalks.
15:19A pride of lions stalks its prey.
15:23And that's because the collective noun is pride.
15:27A pride stalks its prey.
15:30We have to use a singular verb because the subject is pride, not lions.
15:36Number four is correct.
15:39The family is looking forward to moving to Australia.
15:44Number five is incorrect.
15:47The rock band is playing at three different venues next week.
15:53We need a singular verb because this is a singular collective noun.
15:58Number six is correct.
16:00A fleet of ships sails across the horizon.
16:04Fleet is a collective noun.
16:07And that is the subject.
16:08So we need a singular verb.
16:10Number seven is incorrect.
16:13It should be sings.
16:15The choir sings a beautiful song at the Christmas concert.
16:19Number eight is incorrect.
16:22The government is planning to introduce new laws.
16:26Government is another collective noun.
16:29Number nine is correct.
16:32The families are from Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden.
16:35We have different families and we're using plural collective noun.
16:41And finally, number 10 is also correct.
16:44The committee meets every month to discuss issues.
16:49Okay, let me know in the comment section how many you got correct out of 10.
16:55And if this was difficult for you, or if you have any questions at all,
17:00make sure to subscribe for more English lessons.
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