A collective noun is a noun used to refer to a group of persons, animals or things as a unit.

It appears therefore in the singular form and any other part of the speech referring to it are generally used in the singular form. Examples:

 

- Uno stormo di uccelli volò sopra le nostre teste / Birds in flock flew overhead

- Un gruppo di signore entrò nel museo / A group of ladies entered the museum

 

NOTE that —> personal pronouns referring to collective nouns are usually used in the plural.

 

For example:

 

- Con quella gente non si scherza. Meglio non avvicinarsi troppo a loro. / Those people are not someone to be trifled with. You’d better stay away from them.

 

Some collective nouns are specific enough to stand alone in the sentence, while others are to be followed by the preposition di + a second noun which specifies the nature of the persons / animals / things forming the unity expressed by the collective noun. Examples:

 

- Ho ritrovato l’anello che avevo perso nel fogliame / I found the ring I had lost in the foliage —> (stand-alone)

- Davanti alla fabbrica c’era un gruppo di persone che voleva entrare / In front of the factory there was a group of people who wanted to go in —> generic collective noun, followed by di + another noun

 

Some collective nouns:

 

(la) flotta / fleet

(l’) esercito / army

(il) plotone / platoon

(il) battaglione / battalion

(il) reggimento / regiment

(la) ciurma / crew

(la) masnada / gang, mob

(la) scolaresca / class (group of students)

(il) gregge / flock, herd

(la) mandria / herd

(lo) sciame / swarm, hive

(il) branco / pack

(il) vespaio (also fig.) / 

(la) clientela / clientile

(il) fogliame / Foliage, green

(il) pentolame / pots and pans

(la) paccottiglia / junk, ticky-tacky

(il) grappolo / bunch, cluster

(la) mobilia / furnitures

(il) pubblico / audience

(la) cricca / 

(la) combriccola

(la) folla / crowd

(il) gruppo / group 

(il) complesso / complex

(la) famiglia / family

(l’) orchestra / orchestra

 

Remember that ordinals can be collective nouns. Examples:

 

- Una dozzina di uova / A dozen eggs

- Un decennio / A decade

- Un centinaio / About a hundred