Collective Nouns in English: How to talk about groups of people and things
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2024
- Do you want to speak more fluent English? Learn to use collective nouns - special words we use to talk about groups of people, animals, or objects. This is an important English vocabulary lesson because a lot of these words will not make sense logically to you unless you know the meaning in this context already! Some of the collective nouns I'll teach you include: a batch of cookies, a deck of cards, a litter of kittens, an army of caterpillars, and more! Watch this video before the rhinos get me!
Take the quiz: www.engvid.com/...
TRANSCRIPT
Is it safe? Can I come out? Okay. Whew. Okay, I was just baking some cookies, but the strangest thing happened. A group of rhinos started chasing me, so now I'm just... I'm trying to escape, but I want to give you guys this very, very important English lesson first. So I'm going to put these down, and we're going to try to do this lesson before the rhinos come back. Okay? Okay, let me... Let me compose myself.
Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on "Collective Nouns". So, collective nouns are nouns we use to talk about a group of things, animals, or people. Of course, it's possible just to say: "A group of", whatever. For example: "a group of birds" or "a group of kittens", but there are very specific names that we can give them and we do give them to make it a little more specific, I guess. Okay? So, I'm going to give you first some of the most common ones that we use, and then some that are a little less common.
So, to begin: I had "a batch of cookies" at the start of this lesson. So, if you are baking and you bake a lot of cookies like I did, you baked a batch of cookies. Okay? So you can say: "The first batch is ready." or "The second batch is in the oven." or "I made three batches of cookies."
All right, next: "a bouquet of flowers". I think many people probably know this one. So we just say: "Bouquet". Very French. Right? Very French. So, you can give a bouquet of flowers to your mother on Mother's Day, or to your girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife on the anniversary or Valentine's Day.
Next: If you play poker, you need "a deck of cards". Right? It's not a group of cards. It is a group of cards, but we don't say: "Hey. Do you have a group of cards?" We say: "Do you have a deck of cards?" Okay?
Next: Birds, if you have many birds, a group of birds together, they are called: "a flock", "a flock of birds". Okay? In the 1980s there was a band called "Flock of Seagulls". A seagull is that white, annoying bird in public, and they had a famous song, "I Ran", went like: "And I ran, I ran so far away..." Doo, doo, doo, doo. Whatever the lyrics were. I don't remember them. So, "a flock of birds", "a flock of seagulls."
Next: For cows and buffalo, you can say: "a herd", "a herd of cattle", "a herd of buffalo".
If you have kittens, baby cats, baby dogs, you say: "a litter of kittens", "a litter of puppies". So, for example, in the movie 101 Dalmatians, a famous Disney movie where there are 101 baby puppies, baby Dalmatians, that is a litter of 101 puppies.
Next: "a pack of wolves", or dogs, or hounds. So, the movie, Frozen, very popular amongst young people, girls-my daughter loves it-there's a scene where Anna and Kristoff are escaping in the forest and behind them there are a bunch of wolves, a group of wolves, so you can say: "A pack of wolves is chasing them." All right?
Next: "a panel of judges" or "a panel of experts". If you watch TV shows, like The Voice, or American Idol, and you have one, two, three judges... Usually you have the nice one, and the annoying one, and the one who's really hard on people. This is a panel of judges. Okay? Or a panel of experts.
"A school of fish", so I'm going to tie this to movies again. If you have seen Finding Nemo, any time you see that big group of fish travelling together, that is called "a school of fish". Yes, just like go to school, the same thing. A school of fish.
And finally: "a wealth of information". Now, information is non-count. You cannot say: "One information, two informations, three informations". You can say: "A lot of information" or "A wealth of information".
All right. Let's look at some more on this side. A little less common, here. We have: "an army of caterpillars". It sounds really cool. Right? So, caterpillars become butterflies, but if you have a lot of caterpillars together, that's called "an army of caterpillars". I don't recommend you Google search "army of caterpillars", especially if you don't like insects because some of the pictures of the caterpillars all together, and being furry, and fuzzy, and... Uhgl. It's not very nice if you don't like insects. Also, "army" like: "an army of soldiers". Or in this case, on my shirt, an army of stormtroopers from Star Wars.
a group of caterpillars are called " an army of caterpillars" and a group of soldiers are called "platoon of soldiers". English makes so much sense.
The funniest and nerdiest English teacher I met so far, I definitely love it.
This is a nice compliment. 😅 Thank you.
Can't resist mentioning this gem from an irish newspaper some years back. A whinge of teachers.
The reference to Magic Cards with Rhinos was awesome and nice!
I appreciate your loved dedication to teach, school as well, may be used as a group of people, particularly writers, artists, or philosophers, sharing the same or similar ideas, methods, or style.
You are best teacher of the world
Oh my! You are great! You are fun and made the lesson easy to learn. I know why. You put your heart on it. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. 🙏
Thanks very much you are the best teacher 😊
Thank you for this video Alex. My daughter learned a lot. Again thank you.😊
That's fantastic to hear! I'm happy to help, Beverly. :)
Awesome! Every thing was so well explained. I just screenshot this list and I'm going to memorize it right now. We also have collective nouns in Portuguese. Thanks for teaching us new words! You're the man!! 👏👏👏👏👏
Thanks, Silvio!
English Lessons with Alex (engVid AlexESLvid) Do you speak french ?
Very badly. :)
I can help you with portuguese if you want :D
Levi Lima yay
I just like the way u said a group of whatever
Keep going
1m subscribers soon
Thank you for teaching me
Thank you so much that was so helpful ❤️
Mr.Alex
Thank you
For clearing concept
Very nice first I can't remember easily when I watch this I understand it very well great job very nice👍
Thanks for the explanation
It helped me to understand before my exam tomorrow
English is difficult
_ crying _
But it is easy to understand
Kuwaiti woman passed by here
Dear Sir,
I am very pleased to listen to your explanations about collective nouns.
Thank you very much for sincere effort to try to make us understand.
Sir, would you kindly explain at least 10
( ten) collective nouns found in each of the following places :-
1. Kitchen 2. Bedroom 3. Dining room
4. Drawing room.
If explained, I shall ever remain grateful to you.
Thanking you in anticipation.
With regards.
Yours sincerely,
J.K.Chhetry ,
Dausa, Rajasthan.
Thank you for useful lesson
Thx so much this really helped :D 👍
Hi,I'm Maruf from Bangladesh. I think you are a good teacher along with actor..Thank you
You’re awesome! Anyone can learn from you. The small anecdotes are paramount for retention with a lot of learners.
I see these collective nouns again and again, and I still don't remember all of them. This video helps me revise the nouns. Thank you Alex for this great lesson!
You're very welcome!
Thanks a bunch ❤. I watch yours from India.
Thank you for your teach.
Thanks Alex. You're a great teacher. Thanks for this useful class.
You're very welcome!
thank
you very much Mr Alex
I'm student from the Sudan
This helped me soooooo much on my project! I thank you so much! 🐳💗🤗
That's great! What was your project about?
Alex you are doing a really good job
these vids help me with my homework !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We appreciate your efforts Alex best English teacher
real nice i love it
you are more than amazing teacher
I love you
Thank you 🙏 a batch 😂. Having fun is the most effective way to learn💞
very good lesson. thank you!
My pleasure.
It's an awesome class Alex. Thanks for your tips!!! Greetings from Brazil. ;)
Greetings from Canada!
Thank you so much Alex. My english exam is tomorrow.. I'm so scared because this exam is one of the important exam i'm gonna take in my life. Wish me luck!
Good luck, Kaethilyn! I hope you do well!
thank you very much! it's very useful! I'll try to use these new words in my conversations!
Yes! The first group is probably more useful/common. The second group is just for fun, and many native speakers don't know stuff like "a murder of lawyers."
Hello There! I would love to thank you for teaching me this. I know some of the Beginning part but not alot of the other part
Thank you so much Alex
You're very welcome.
Great lesson Alex! A batch of cookies is the best. What a pity not having eaten them! Even if they were few for a crash of rhinos! 😁😁😁 However you are the best! Thank you.
Haha. Thanks. The cookies were a little hard, anyway...
Hi I'm thais . What a good tutor! Do you know? You can make me more understand than my teacher at school!
thank for making the video this is very helpful for me
i loved this lesson. :D Thanks, Alex.
You're very welcome! Thanks for checking it out. :)
Thanks Alex!
Can you teach us some Advanced Verbs, Phrasal verbs, Adjectives, Phrases, Expressions, etc...?? all Advanced.
Which phrase is correct - the class was or the class were? Is the word class a singular noun or a plural noun? This question cannot be answered with Yes or No. Use the singular if you see the class as a group of students. Use the plural if you see the class as single students.In British English the plural is used more often than in American English. in British English, they refer to groups such as family, staff, etc. In the plural form using 'are'. In American English they refer groups in the singular form using 'is'. Both are acceptable, so use the one that is most comfortable for you.
I am learning British English, and get very confused by this! I hope that you can answer me! ☺️
Collective-group of individual
thank you so much I learned a lot in this lesson
thank I also love you English lesson
Thanks, Edward! I'm glad you liked it.
Thankyou Alex I got everything
Thank you, Alex! I like so much your lessons, it's easy to understand and to learn things with you! I especially love lessons on vocabulary! And the videos on books are my favourites! Hope to see more of these:) Thank you thank you thank you!!!!
You're welcome! The videos on books are some of my favourites to record. I will certainly be making more in the future.
+English Lessons with Alex (engVid AlexESLvid) it'd be cool!!!
a cookies, a batch of cookies. I really want a batch of chocolate cookies. Thanks a lot for a wealth of information. I really want to speak English fluently.
Nice use of the vocab, olga. :)
Thanks for your time today and
Calmly Silently a cookies? Is that correct?
thanks so much greetings from Aadyaa Choudhury from India
Mr. Alex. How do you tell if a collecive noun is singular or plural?
Is it ok to say the answer?
Awesome Alex .. Thank you😁😁😁😁
Nice class Alex . I learn so much .my country is sri lanka .. thank you
Your lessons are the best! I am improving my english from the other side of the world, thank you very much!! You are the best!
Nice class Alex.I learnt so much.Thank you for this class.Greetings from Brazil!!!
Thanks for checking it out, Samantha.
P
thank you Alex, greeting from China.
Greetings from Canada, Sherrie. You're welcome!
Thank you
I learned it well
I love to say I love you too much
That's very kind. Thank you!
Mr.Alex is this important for IELTS and TOEFL ??
A sort of rare lessons. Thanks a lot
Well good methodology of teaching ❤
Greetings from São Paulo - Brazil . You are the best engvid teacher.
Thanks for studying with me, Miro. I appreciate your kind words. Greetings from Canada right back at ya. :)
Really funny lesson 😂 but : Will be able to remember all these words? 🤔
Thank you
You are the best, Alex. Love you so much 👍💐💖
Thanks for clicking! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
thanku sir... you are amazing.
Wonderful lesson 😊
Thanx Alex! U r great at this!
That's very kind of you to say. Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Thank u Alex.. I start a English class for 3 months now, 4 days a week and 3 hours a day but I also need a private tutor to push me hard. I want to be a polyglot but I am only interested on 5 languages: English, spanish, mandarin, Arabic, Germany.. for now I am focusing on only English. So if you have any advice or trick for me to use to improve my English don't hesitate. Thank u
I like to lern collective nouns❤❤😊
Hi there! How are you? I hope you are doing great !! I'd like to tell you that I have a doubt with a TOEFL excercise (hope you can help me or any member of the community please) It says: "A pride of lions __ up to 40 lions, including one to three males, several females, and cubs." In the espace I need to choose one of the following answers: a) can contain b) it contains c) contain d) containing. I believe the correct answer is CAN CONTAIN, but a started to hesitate and I think it could be CONTAIN. I undestand I can understand PRIDE as a whole, as a unit. And because of that definitely it would be correct CONTAINS but that word is not in the answers section. So that's why I believe CAN CONTAIN is the best option. Thank you very much . Greetings from Mexico !!!
I’d go with “can contain” as well. The only other answer that makes grammatical sense is “contains,” but that would mean a pride of lions must have exactly 40 lions, which isn’t the case.
Learn English with Alex [engVid] Thank you very very much. I really appreciate your time to answer me. I completely agree with you. Take care my master!!
Thanks
Hello Alex sir
I have 1 questions that
A group of soldiers is
Please give me answer
As per grammatical rules, we should not use indefinite articles before uncountable nouns! Am i right?
Thanks Alex! You are great teacher of English*!
Thanks for your support, Askhat!
nice video I like it
Now I leaned the collective nouns proply
..... always when you believe you know the English language, Alex surprises (me) with "a murder of crows" 😅 ... what "a wealth of information" given here. Very useful! Thanks a lot!
You're very welcome!
I'm seeing the video you explain it very nicely
Thank you sir
Undeniably useful lesson!
Thanks a lot for your work!
My pleasure. Thanks for checking it out.
Very useful teacher. Thank you 👍😊
No problem. :)
Thanks sir..... I don't understand your English language. But I understood only which written on board which helpful for me
That's a start. :) Thanks for checking out the lesson!
Great Lesson!
Thanks, Sofia! I'm glad you liked it.
Plz tell me about collective noun with examples of fruits and vegetables plz Alex
it's a good listen thank you very much , my greetings from Algeria
Greetings from Canada. Thank you for your support.
Thank you very much for your lessons. Being a great actor,you make lessons so attractive and easy to remember. I hope you managed to escape a crash of rhinos.
Sorry. ...escape from a crash of rhinos.
Thanks for your feedback! Yes, I managed to escape. :)
again this was soooo funny 😂🤣but ur the best teacher
really nice class!
Thanks a lot!
thanks for the lesson
Any time!
🙏 from India ❤️
Thank you so much it helped me a lot.
I loved your class Alex, very funny and the Quiz was very appropriate, ... I already subscribed to your channel, a hug from Venezuela
I didn't know there were tons of expression to say "a group of", it's always interesting to learn new things :) I have a question though, we really can't say "informationS", "some informations" ?
thank you very much
You're very welcome.
Thanks for the lesson.
You're very welcome.
Good Stuff Sir Happy New Year 2017.I'm regular visitor of your channel.You are awesome.
Great lesson Alex! I am an English teacher from Colombia! :)
thanks you teacher !
No problem.