List of Important Collective Nouns for Competitive Exams | 100 + Most Important Collective Nouns List

Collective noun is a subcategory of the part of speech Noun.

The collective nouns are truly important for the upcoming competitive exams.

List of Collective Nouns

The collective nouns are used to indicate a collection of persons, animals or things treated and spoken together as a whole.
Some examples of collective nouns which are important for exams:

List of Collective Nouns Denoting a Group of People:

An army of soldiers.
An assembly of listeners.
A band of musicians.
A band if pilgrims.
A bevy of ladies/girls/women.
A class of students.
A board if directors.
A choir of singers.
A company of boys.
A crew of sailors.
A crowd of people/spectators.
The council of ministers.
A flock of tourists.
A gang of robbers.
A gang of thieves.
A gang of coolies.
A gang of labourers.
A pack of thieves.
A panel of judges/experts.
A regiment of soldiers.
A staff of employees.
A team of players.
A troupe of dancers/actors/acrobats.
A troop of soldiers.
A troop of policemen.
A troop of actors.
A tribe of natives.

Read more: List of Singular and Plural number.

List of Collective Nouns Denoting a Group of Animals:

An army of ants.
A colony of ants.
A cloud of bats.
A flock of sheep/goat.
A flock of birds. 
A flight of birds.
A herd of cows. 
A herd of deer. 
A herd of elephants. 
A host of sparrows.
A hive of bees.
A swarm of bees.
A swarm of flies/locust/insects.
A kennel of dogs.
A litter of puppies/kittens/cubs.
A gaggle of geese.
A murder of crows.
A pride of lions.
A pride of peacocks.
A parliament of owls.
A school of fish/dolphin.
A pack of wolves. 
A shoal of fishes. 
A troop of monkeys. 
A team of horses/ducks/oxen.
A covey of quails. 

Read more: One-word Substitution for places.

List of Collective Nouns denoting a Group of Non-living Things:

An album of photographs /autographs /stamps.
A batch of cookies.
A bouquet of flowers.
A bunch of keys.
A bunch of grapes.
A bunch of plantains. 
A bunch of flowers.
A bundle of sticks.
A bundle of papers.
A bundle of clothes.
A cloud of dust.
A fleet of ships. 
A forest of trees.
A galaxy of stars.
A group of islands.
A hedge of bushes.
A heap of ruins.
A heap if ashes. 
A library of books.
A pack of cards.
A pile of books.
A pile of papers 
A row of trees.
A sheaf of paddy.
A stack of wood.
A stack of hay.
A stack of corn.
A shower of rain.
A stream of bananas.
A stock of goods.
A string of pearls.
A tuft of hair.
A series of events. 
A range of mountain.
A pair of shoes.
A wad of notes.


Read more: Rules to use '-ing' with a verb.

Is a collective noun a singular or is it a plural ?

A collective noun may be a singular or a plural depending on the context of he sentence.

1.  A collective noun is a singular noun and is followed by a singular verb if it is used as a single body or group.

• The jury is still out. Or, the jury was unanimous in its decision.
• The family is living together now

2.  A collective nouns is used as a plural noun and is followed by a plural verb if they are used as individuals.

• The jury were divided in their opinions.
• The family were living in different places.

3.  Gentry, Clergy, Peasantry, People, audience, cattle, majority, folk etc. are some collective nouns which are always plural.

• The people are happy with the performance of the Government.
• The majority of the customers prefer it.

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