COLLECTIVE NOUNS

Collective Nouns are nouns which express groups of beings/objects. They

have two different morphological behaviours:
when collective nouns refer to the members of a group, the agreement
with the verb is in the plural:
The family are away on holiday.
The whole crew were on deck.
The management have decided to lay off more personnel.
when collective nouns refer to groups of beings/objects as entities, the
agreement with the verb is in the singular:
My family is not very large.
The crew is made up of 50-plus sailors.
In certain cases both forms of the verb are possible:
The jury is/are giving the verdict.
The council hasnt/havent decided yet on the fate of the building.
Sometimes the form of the verb is imposed by context: a pronoun or a
possessive adjective from the sentence or a certain lexical structure.
The jury has given its verdict.
The jury have given their verdict.
The jury havent made up their minds yet.
The jury is in court. It is made up of women only.
The council have expressed their disapproval.
The council has set up a committee. Its task is to investigate the
bribery allegations.
A number of collective nouns belong to the category Singularia Tantum, as
they cannot be used in the plural:
people (=oameni)
cavalry
folk (=oameni)
infantry
kin (=rude)
peasantry (=rnime)
next of kin
majority
youth (=tineret)
the rest
offspring (=progenituri)
the remainder
nobility
the press
aristocracy
the herd (=turma, cei muli)
bourgeoisie
corps
police
diplomatic corp
clergy (=cler)
medical corps
public
ballet corps

press corps
air force
force
cattle (=vite)
police force
poultry/fowl (=psri de curte)
labour/work force
vermin (=peste, duntori)
Most collective nouns are countables and they usually collocate with certain
words.
My family gather very often at my grandparents.
Many families live on meagre food.
1. Human groups.
group = grup, grup, categorie
age group = categorie de vrst
drama group = cerc de teatru
discussion group
therapy group
crowd = mulime
The crowd were cheering and applauding heartily.
mob = gloat, mulime dezorganizat i violent
the Mob (AmE) = Mafia
mass = mas, grup compact
class = clas (social, de elevi, categorie)
a class of people/students
party = grup; partid
Our party left early.
The party have unanimously decided on the new leader.
company = companie; cei de fa
set = grup, gac
body = grup compact
assembly = adunare
The General Assembly have voted against the merger.
council = consiliu (al unei localiti)
board = consiliu de administraie
a board of directors
community = comunitate
commission = comisie, comitet
committee = comitet
panel = comisie special
a panel of experts
jury = 1. juriu (la un concurs)
2. cei 12 jurai (la un proces, n sistemul juridic american)
crew = echipaj

a crew of sailors/airmen
staff = personal, angajai
teaching staff
medical staff
general staff
personnel = personal, angajai
management = conducere (executiv)
leadership = conducere (a statului/a unui partid/ a unei organizaii)
(trade) union = sindicat
guild = ghild, breasl
government = guvern
cabinet = cabinet, guvern
senate = senat
house = camer (legislativ)
the House of Representatives (US)
the House of Commons (GB)
electoral body/electorate = electorat
tribe = trib
clan = clan
audience = public, auditoriu
breed = ras
family = familie
household = ai casei
order = ordin (monahal)
an order of monks/friars/nuns
sect = sect
congregation = totalitatea credincioilor adunai la slujba religioas
la un moment dat
parish = parohie
circle = cerc (de persoane)
inner circle = cerc de iniai
clique = clic
team = echip (de muncitori), brigad; echip (sportiv)
a team of workers/players
brotherhood/fraternity = frie, fraternitate
sisterhood/sorority = sororitate (asociaie de femei/fete)
troupe = trup
a troupe of ballet dancers/actors
cast [k a: s t] = distribuie, actorii dintr-o pies/film
a cast of actors

band = formaie muzical

orchestra = orchestr
gang = band (de rufctori)
a gang of thieves/robbers
suite = suit
escort = escort
procession = procesiune, alai
train = alai; caravan
a train of admirers
a train of camels
file = ir, rnd
row = ir, rnd
queue = rnd, coad
a queue of people
succession = ir, succesiune
a succession of leaders
school = coal (grup de literai/artiti etc.)
a school of writers/artists
Sometimes, collective nouns denoting other groups than human ones are
used figuratively:
a bunch of people/girls/students
a knot of people
a cluster of people/fans
a shoal of tourists
a swarm of children
a pack of thieves/fools
a string of visitors
a gaggle of tourists/schoolchildren
an army of helpers
Many collective nouns denote military groups:
army = armat
fleet = flot
navy = marin
company = companie (de soldai)
regiment = regiment
division = divizie
squad = echip special
fire squad = pluton de execuie
special squad
patrol/party = patrul

reconnaissance party = patrul de recunoatere

brigade = brigad
fire brigade = brigad de pompieri
batallion = batalion
garrison = garnizoan
unit = unitate special
bomb-disposal unit = unitate de geniti
combat unit
2. Animal groups.
a herd of cattle = o ciread de vite
a herd of elephants = o turm de elefani
a herd of deer = un crd de cerbi
a herd of pigs/swine = o turm de porci
a flock of sheep/goats = o turm de oi/capre
a pack of wolves/dogs/hounds = o hait de
a stable/string of horses = o herghelie de cai
a team/yoke of oxen = un atelaj de boi
a flight/flock of birds = un stol de psri
a shoal of fish = un banc de peti
a school/herd of whales = un card de balene
a swarm of bees/flies/ants = un roi de
a hive of bees = un stup de albine
a host/swarm/army/plague/cloud of locusts
a species of animals/birds/insects
3. Other groups.
a bunch/bouquet of flowers
a host/cluster of flowers/daffodils/bluebells
a cluster of grapes
a cluster of stars
a cluster of houses
a bunch of bananas/grapes
a bunch of keys
a galaxy of stars
a heap of dust/garbage/rubbish/sand/rags/clothes/ruins = o grmad
a pile of rubbish/wood/books = un morman de
a stack of wood = o stiv de lemne
a stack of hay = o claie de fn
a stack of newspapers/books = un teanc de
a collection of books/short-stories/poems/magazines/antiques/stamps
/coins

an anthology of poems/poetry/verse/stories
a sum/amount of money
a hoard/pile/pot/stack/heap of money = o grmad de bani
a bundle of clothes/sticks/newspapers/books = o legtur de
a bale of hay/straw = un ballot de fn/paie
a sheaf of cornstalks/papers = un mnunchi de
a series/chain/succession/sequence of events
a range/chain of mountains = un lan de muni
a chain of circumstances/supermarkets/stores/ideas/disasters
a series of good//bad harvests/programmes/episodes/stamps/coins/
accidents
a range of tools/dresses/foods/colours/interests/hobbies = o
gam/varietate de
a succession of bad//wet days/defeats/wins/victories
a train/chain of thoughts = un ir de gnduri
a suite of furniture/rooms
a variety of .....
a multitude of .....
a diversity of .....
an amalgam of .....
a scale of values
a grove/clump of trees = un crng/ plc de copaci
a row of books/houses/desks/seats
a group of houses/languages/objects
a family of languages
a set of china/crockery/pottery/cutlery/glasses/knives
a fleet/convoy of ships
a pack of cards
a string of beads/pearls = un irag de mrgele/perle
a string of lakes/wins/defeats/curses = un ir de
Some of these nouns are used figuratively:
a pack of lies = o grmad de minciuni
a host of reasons = un numr de motive
a bundle of nerves = un pachet de nervi