Nouns with a singular form and a singular or plural meaning (collective nouns)
Collective nounA part of speech that names a person, place or thing. E.g.: The koala is a marsupial. ("koala", "marsupial")s, such as family and audience, have a singular form but can be followed by a singular or a plural verbA part of speech that expresses an action or a state. E.g.: John seldom plays tennis., depending on whether we treat the group as a unit (singular) or as a number of individuals (plural):
My family is big.
His family were against his plans.
The audience was captivated by the performance.
This channel’s target audience are young adults.
Other examples of collective nouns are:
board
committee
community
crew
crowd
government
group
jury
staff
team
Some collective nouns are often used with other countable nouns:
A team of researchers is working on this project.
A group of people were standing in front of the building.
A number of collective nouns are used with certain kinds of animals:
a flock of sheep
a pack of wolves
a swarm of bees
Comments and questions
examples of collective nouns
a cluster of balloons
a team of players
a pride of lions
a hand of bananas
a drove of sports fans
a colony of ants
a chain of mountains
a bouquet of flowers
a swarm of mosquitoes
a bed of flowers
a rabble of guerrillas
a flock of geese
a choir of angels
a pack of wolves
a galaxy of stars
a constellation of stars
a bunch of grapes
a set of tools
a company of soldiers
a tribe of indians
A group of people were
"A group of people were standing in front of the building." Why plural?
I thought people are doing the same actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does something. "standing", hence they are considered singular.
In this sentence it is more logical
In this sentence it is more logical to think of a group of people as a number of individuals rather than as a unit: it is the individual people who were standing, not the group as a unit. Therefore, a plural verbA part of speech that expresses an action or a state. E.g.: John seldom plays tennis. seems more appropriate.
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