Question

Choose the collective noun(s) from the following sentence:
All the players in the team performed well.
a. Team
b. Players
c. Team, players
d. None

Answer 1

Hint: A collective noun, in linguistics, is the term used to denote a set of similar items taken as a whole. Some examples of collective nouns can be, a “herd” of cattle, a “school” of fish, a “group” of people, etc. To begin with, it is a kind of noun, one must first look for the nouns in the given sentence and then narrow it down from there. Second thing, as it is a set of entities, the word would be in singular form.

Complete step-by-step answer:

The given sentence has two nouns, namely, “players” and “team”. Now, the noun players cannot be a collective noun, as it is talking about multiple entities, separately and as discussed above, is not in singular form. Option b would be incorrect.

For the same reason, option c would be wrong, as it includes the noun players. The phrase, “players in the team” is a good clue to understand that the team is set that the players are a part of, hence, team is the collective noun in the given sentence. Option a is correct.

Note: To be able to distinguish between a collective noun and other types of nouns, one must be clear on the meaning of collective nouns. Some collective nouns are not used on a regular basis, hence might be a challenge, for example, the collective noun used for a set of ravens is “unkindness”. This is to say that the word may or may not be familiar, but understanding their place in the sentence and the context will be the best way to solve such questions.