The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

Nouns with a singular form and a singular or plural meaning (collective nouns)

Collective nouns, such as family and audience, have a singular form but can be followed by a singular or a plural verb, depending on whether we treat the group as a unit (singular) or as a number of individuals (plural):

My

family

is big.

His

family

were against his plans.

The

audience

was captivated by the performance.

This channel's target

audience

are young adults.

Other examples of collective nouns are:

board

committee

community

crew

crowd

government

group

jury

staff

team

Some collective nouns are often used with other countable nouns:

A team of researchers

is working on this project.

A group of people

were standing in front of the building.

A number of collective nouns are used with certain kinds of animals:

a colony of ants

a flock of sheep

a herd of cattle

a pack of wolves

a swarm of bees