By definition, a noun is simply a name of a person, place or thing.
Basically, we have three most important kinds of nouns namely: Collective nouns, proper nouns and common nouns. Examples are teacher, student, animal, tree, country etc.
Proper Noun: a name given to a particular person, place or thing. John, Britain, Abuja, etc.
Common Noun: a name given to things of the same kind like country, animal, man and others.
Collective Noun: which we are concerned about here. Is a name given to a group of the same kind. For instance, a gang of robbers, an army of soldiers, a class of scholars etc.
In this post, we shall bring out a number of these collective nouns for animals that will equip students richly to tackle English Language in WAEC/NECO and other relevant examinations.
- A brace of birds
- A brood of chickens
- A bevy of quails
- A barren of mules
- A brood of pheasant
- A covey of game birds
- A covey of partridges
- A covert of coots
- A colony of rooks
- A covey of grouse
- A cast of hawks
- A drove of ponies/horses
- A flight of doves
- A flight of swallows
- A flock of birds
- A flock of geese
- A flock of sheep
- A gang of elks
- A herd of antelopes
- A herd of buffaloes
- A herd of cattle
- A herd of cows
- A herd of elephants
- A herd of cranes
- A kindle of kittens
- A labour of moles
- A leap of leopards
- A legion of devils
- A litter of puppies
- A litter of pigs
- A muster of peacocks
- A nest of ants
- A nest of rabbits
- A nest of mice
- A nide of pheasants
- A pack of hounds
- A pack of wolves
- A pack of asses
- A plague of insects
- A plague of locusts
- A paddling of ducks
- A poultry of fowls
- A pride of lions
- A rag of colts
- A school of whales
- A shoal of fish
- A shoal of herring
- A skulk of foxes
- A sloth of bears
- A string of horses
- A swarm of bees
- A swarm of ants
- A swarm of insects
- A team of horses
- A team of oxen
- A tribe of goats
- A troop of lions
- A troop of monkeys
- A watch of nightingales
- A wisp of snipe
In summary, collective nouns are very important in English language. Students are expected to know them to be able to answer questions on lexis and structures, comprehension and summary as well as good grammatical structures to pass the subject English in WAEC/NECO, JAMB and other relevant examinations.