twitter: @eugenio_fouz
Collective Nouns /
Group Nouns
3
(Source: learningEnglishpage)
What is a collective noun?
A collective noun is a noun that can be
singular in form whilst referring to a group of people or things. Collective
nouns are sometimes confused with mass nouns.
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
The use of "of"
We often say a group of things, such as a bunch
of flowers, or a host of golden daffodils.
Some collective nouns can stand alone, such as
"Britain has an army", but if the collective noun "army" is
used to mean something other than an organized military force, you can say
things like "an army of women" or "an army of ants", and
even "an army of one".
Plural or singular?
When a group is considered as a single unit,
the collective noun is used with a singular verb and singular pronoun.
For example - The committee has reached its
decision.
When the focus is on the individual parts of
the group, British English sometimes 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 ...."
However, if you are talking about more than one
committee, then you use the plural form.
For example - "Many committees have been
formed over the years."
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 ).
***
Extra links:
1. Stylemanual. Collectives
2.Edufind.com.-Plural of nouns
3. Africa, Kenya military names... (BBC News)
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario