Page 65 - English Vocabulary In Use upper intermediet and advance

29 Collective nouns

Collective nouns are used to describe a group of the same things.

a group of people a crowd of people a gang of football fans
(small group) (large number) (rather negative)

Words associated with certain animals
A flock of sheep or birds, e.g. geeselpigeons; a herd of cows, deer, goats; a shoal of fish
(or any particular fish, e.g. a shoal of herringlmackerel- note the use of singular here); a
swarm of insects (or any particular insect, most typically flying ones, e.g. a swarm of
beeslgnats)
Note: a pack of ... can be used for dogs or hyenas, wolves, etc. as well as for (playing) cards.

People involved in the same joblactivity
A team of surgeonsldoctorslexpertslreporterslscientistslrescue-workersldetectives arrived
at the scene of the disaster.
The crew were all saved when the ship sank. [workers on a ship]
The company are rehearsing a new production. [group of actors]
The cast were all amateurs. [actors in a particular production]
The staff are on strike. [general word for groups who share a place of work,
e.g. teachers in a school, people in an office]

Physical features of landscapes

In the picture we can see a row of cottages near a clump of trees with a range of hills in
the background. Out on the lake there is a small group of islands.

Things in gen

$b!

a pile/heap of a bunch of flowers a stack of chairs a set of tools
papers (or clothes, (or grapes, bananas, (or tables, boxes, (or pots and pans,
dishes,toys, etc.) berries, etc.) logs, etc.) etc.)

58 English Vocobulory in Use