If there are any others we've missed, you can suggest a word or let us know. The list below includes many common standard English terms, such as a pod of whales and a pack of dogs, as well as more arcane terms such as a clowder of cats and a descension of woodpeckers. Actual evidence of these 'proper' terms in genuine use is either sketchy or non-existent. It may be noted that despite the existence of these collective nouns, ordinarily a group of plovers, starlings or owls will most likely be denoted, in both spoken and written English, by the term flock and not congregation, murmuration or parliament. In imitation of these medieval terms many new terms of a similar nature have been coined in recent times, such as a crash of rhinoceroses. Whether these terms were ever actually used by hunters is doubtful, but a few have in the end become a part of the standard English vocabulary, and scholars from the 19th century onwards have been diligent in reproducing these medieval lists, with greater and less accuracy, so that many of these terms are today still known as the 'proper' terms for a group of some stated animal or bird, even though their use outside this limited domain is virtually non-existent. Other common collective nouns are class, crowd, flock, panel, committee, group, audience, staff, and family.A number of medieval sources provided lists of collective nouns for various animals and birds, purportedly as technical hunting terms, although clearly fanciful in origin. When preceded by the, it is treated as a singular: The number of solutions offered was astounding. The collective noun number, when preceded by a, is treated as a plural: A number of solutions were suggested. The pair are busy furnishing their new home. When the collective nouns couple and pair refer to people, they are usually treated as plurals: The newly married couple have found a house near good transportation.
The enemy are bringing up their heavy artillery. In formal speech and writing, collective nouns are usually not treated as both singular and plural in the same sentence: The enemy is fortifying its (not their ) position. When such a noun is treated as plural, the pronoun is who: His crew are specialists who volunteered for the project. When a collective noun naming a group of persons is treated as singular, it is referred to by the relative pronoun that or which: His crew is one that (or which ) works hard. In British English, such nouns are commonly treated as plurals: The corporation are holding their annual meeting. In American English, a collective noun naming an organization regarded as a unit is usually treated as singular: The corporation is holding its annual meeting. Whether a collective noun, which is singular in form, is used with a singular or plural verb depends on whether the word is referring to the group as a unit or to its members as individuals.
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