Language/French/Grammar/Collective-nouns
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Collective nouns in French
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Collective Nouns: Definition
A collective noun (nom collectif) is a singular noun that represents a group of things or people.
Subject-Verb Agreement
Although collective nouns can stand alone in a sentence, they are often followed by a complement (a group of something). The tricky part about using collective nouns is determining whether the verb should agree with the collective noun (and be singular) or with its complement (and be plural).
- See lesson: Subject-verb agreement with collective nouns
Examples of collective nouns
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Un archipel (d'îles) | An archipelago (of islands) |
| Un banc (de poissons) | A school (of fish) |
| Un comité | A committee |
| Un cortège (de personnes, de choses) | A procession (of people, things) |
| Un essaim (d'abeilles) | A swarm (of bees) |
| Un gouvernement | A government |
| Un peuple | people |
| Un tas | A pile |
| Une assiette (de légumes) | A plate (of vegetables) |
| Une assistance | An audience |
| Une bande (de jeunes) | A bunch (of young people) |
| Une batterie (de missiles) | A battery (of missiles) |
| Une couvée (de poussins) | A brood (of chicks) |
| Une équipe | A team |
| Une flottille (de pédalos) | A flotilla (of pedal boats) |
| Une foule (de gens) | A crowd (of people) |
| Une harde (de cerfs, de sangliers) | A herd (deer, wild boar) |
| Une main-d'oeuvre | A workforce |
| Une meute (de chiens, de loups) | A pack (of dogs, wolves) |
| Une pile (d'assiettes) | A stack (of plates) |
| Une poignée | A handful or fistful |
| Une série | A series |
| Une troupe (de soldats, de lions) | A troop (of soldiers, of lions) |
| Une volée (de corbeaux) | A flock (of crows) |
Collective noun = Subject of a clause
If the collective noun is the subject of a clause, the verb is mostly in the singular. This is different from English, where the verb can be either singular or plural:
- Le gouvernement a (NOT "ont") décidé d'interdire les cigarettes dans les lieux publics
The government has/have decided to ban cigarettes in public places
- Notre équipe s'entraîne (NOT "s'entraînent") le mardi soir
Our team trains/train on Tuesday evenings