A collective noun is a word that describes a group of people or things, and there are lot of them, as a different one is used for different situations and types of people. Examples of collective nouns for humans include:<\/p>\n
\n faculty (of academics)<\/p>\n
team (of players)<\/p>\n
crowd (of people)<\/p>\n
gang (of thieves)<\/p>\n
choir (of singers)<\/p>\n
troupe (of performers)<\/p>\n
audience (of listeners)\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Animals are usually grouped by species or kind:<\/p>\n
\n herd (of buffalo)<\/p>\n
pride (of lions)<\/p>\n
school (of fish)<\/p>\n
colony (of ants)<\/p>\n
troop (of monkeys)<\/p>\n
murder (of crows)<\/p>\n
flock (of birds)\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
But when it comes to inanimate objects, the following can be used:<\/p>\n
\n chain (of islands)<\/p>\n
fleet (of ships)<\/p>\n
library (of books)<\/p>\n
wealth (of information)<\/p>\n
bouquet (of flowers)<\/p>\n
convoy (of vehicles)<\/p>\n
constellation (of stars)\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As you can see, there\u2019s a lot and some get very peculiar, especially the older ones (a clench of sphincters and a beautification of spatulas, for instance). But once you collect a group of somethings, does that make the collective a singular or plural entity?<\/p>\n
The clue here is to look at the article.<\/p>\n
\n The<\/strong> colony of ants<\/p>\n
A<\/strong> fleet of ships<\/p>\n
The<\/strong> choir of singers\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Despite the fact we are talking about multiple things (ants, ships, singers), the act of collecting them together into a group means they become a single entity. If you remove the singers, ants and ships from the sentences, you\u2019re left with a colony, a fleet and a choir\u2014all of which are easily singular entities.<\/p>\n
\n The colony (of ants) was<\/strong> destroyed in the flood.<\/p>\n
A fleet (of ships) is<\/strong> entering the harbour.<\/p>\n
The choir (of singers) is<\/strong> heading to London.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So while we are talking about multiple people or things, the act of collecting them together into groups merges them into a singular entity.<\/p>\n