” Dear Anonymous, a collective noun describes a group of people, animals, or things. It often is the first word in a phrase (e.g., “pride of lions” means a group of lions, but “pride” cannot describe a group of dogs), or it is a word used by itself that only means one thing (e.g., “people” means a group of human beings). read more
A collective noun is a noun (such as team, committee, jury, squad, orchestra, crowd, audience, and family) that refers to a group of individuals. Also known as a group noun. In American English, collective nouns usually take singular verb forms. Collective nouns can be replaced by both singular and plural pronouns, depending on their meaning. read more