Written by Gary MartinGary Martin Illustrated by Phillip MartinPhillip Martin Resource for all grades.

Collective nouns names groups of people, places or things. Examples include citizens, countrymen, audience, team, band, United States and family.

The important thing to remember about collective nouns is since they refer to a group as a unit they are considered singular.

For example: The jury exited the courtroom to discuss the case. Since the jury is exiting the court room as a group, the noun is considered singular.

However, when a collective noun references individual members of a group who are acting independently, the noun is considered plural.

For example: The teachers worked all summer on their lesson plans. Since the teachers worked individually on their plans, the noun is considered plural.

Can you tell if the collective noun is plural or singular in the following sentences?

The family went on vacation to New York City.

Parts of Speech. The family went on vacation to New York City. In the context of this sentence the noun family is a singular group acting in unison. There is no arguing, fighting, complaining or claiming the front seat. The noun is singular.

Parts of Speech. When the reunion was over, our family went their separate ways, back to other states.

In this sentence the noun family is considered plural because all the members are acting individually.

Can you determine which verb goes with the collective noun?

During the football game the crowd (was, were) enthusiastic, nuts and just a little insane.

Since the crowd as a group was acting in unison, the collective noun crowd is considered singular and was is the correct verb choice.

The miners (was, were) happy about (its, their) bonuses.

Since the miners each had an individual bonus instead of sharing a collective pot and making choices on that money based on community, the nouns and verbs are plural.

The students ( was / were ) not ready to get on the bus because they did not have enough homework.

The students ( was / were ) not ready to get on the bus because they did not have enough homework. It’s plural.

The End The students ( was / were ) not ready to get on the bus because they did not have enough homework.

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