Collective Nouns for the Assam Police Constable (AB & UB) Exam
Collective nouns name a group of people, animals or things taken together, and they form a favourite corner of the General English paper because a single word can carry the whole answer. The examiner gives a group and asks for its collective noun, or gives the collective noun and asks what it names. There is no passage to read and no rule to apply; the answer depends on a clear and correctly grouped list. The difficulty is that some collective nouns are common and shared, such as herd and flock, while others are rare and fixed to one animal, such as a murder of crows or a parliament of owls, and a candidate who has not learnt the rare ones loses easy marks. This page arranges the collective nouns by group, separates the common from the unusual, explains the small confusions, and lists the high-yield pairs that repeat in the paper. The material follows the standard grammar and vocabulary reference books used for Assam recruitment examinations and is reviewed before it is published.
How This Portion Is Set
The examiner usually gives a group of animals or people and four possible collective nouns, or gives the collective noun and asks what group it names. Sometimes the collective noun is placed inside a sentence and the candidate must supply it or choose the correct one. In every case the answer comes from memory, so a well-grouped list is the whole of the preparation. Because the common words cover many groups and the rare words cover only one, the candidate should learn the common ones first and then add the famous unusual ones.
Collective Nouns for Animals
Animal groups give the largest and the most interesting part of this list.
- Lion and pride; wolf and pack; dog and pack.
- Cattle, elephant, horse, deer, buffalo and walrus and herd.
- Sheep and flock; goat and flock; monkey and troop; baboon and troop; gorilla and troop.
- Fish and school; whale and pod; dolphin and pod; seal and pod.
- Bee and swarm; ant and colony; rabbit and colony; penguin and colony; wasp and colony.
- Mouse and mischief; squirrel and scurry; fox and skulk; bear and sleuth; otter and romp.
- Ferret and business; badger and cete; porcupine and prickle.
Collective Nouns for the Big Cats and Wild Beasts
These are asked because several of them are uncommon and precise.
- Tiger and streak; leopard and leap; cheetah and coalition; lion and pride.
- Zebra and zeal; giraffe and tower; rhinoceros and crash; hippopotamus and bloat.
- Kangaroo and mob; ape and shrewdness; camel and caravan; donkey and drove; pig and drove; elk and gang.
Collective Nouns for Birds
Bird groups carry some of the most famous words in the whole language.
- Crow and murder; owl and parliament; magpie and parliament.
- Goose and gaggle; duck and raft; swan and bevy; flamingo and flamboyance.
- Chicken and brood; turkey and rafter; quail, grouse and partridge and covey.
- Eagle and convocation; vulture and venue; hawk and kettle; falcon and cast.
- Lark and exaltation; finch and charm; hummingbird and charm; sparrow and host.
- Starling and murmuration; parrot and pandemonium; peacock and ostentation.
- Pigeon and flock; dove and dole; crane and sedge; heron and siege.
Collective Nouns for Insects, Reptiles and Water Creatures
- Frog and army; snake and nest; lizard and lounge; turtle and bale.
- Crocodile and bask; alligator and congregation.
- Shark and shiver; jellyfish and smack; oyster and bed; crab and cast; lobster and risk; starfish and constellation.
- Butterfly and kaleidoscope; grasshopper and cloud; cricket and orchestra; spider and cluster.
- Caterpillar and army; puppy and litter; kitten and kindle; cat and clowder.
Collective Nouns for People
Groups of people have their own set of words and these are asked very often.
- Soldiers and army; sailors and crew; workers and staff.
- Students and class; singers and choir; musicians and orchestra; dancers and troupe; actors and cast; players and team.
- People and crowd; thieves and gang; judges and bench; directors and board; experts and panel.
Collective Nouns for Things and Nature
- Ships and fleet; airplanes and squadron; cards and deck; flowers and bouquet.
- Grapes, bananas and keys and bunch; pearls and string; eggs and clutch.
- Stars and constellation; mountains and range; trees and grove; bushes and thicket; stairs and flight.
- Books and library; poems and anthology; songs and album; paintings and gallery.
The Famous Unusual Ones
A handful of collective nouns are famous because they are unlikely, and the paper likes them for exactly that reason. A murder of crows, a parliament of owls, a charm of finches, an exaltation of larks, a murmuration of starlings, a pandemonium of parrots, an ostentation of peacocks, a flamboyance of flamingos, a shrewdness of apes and a bloat of hippopotamuses are the ones that appear most often. Learning them as a small set, and repeating them aloud, fixes them in memory more firmly than reading them once.
Traps That Cost Marks
- Using herd for a group of sheep, when sheep form a flock.
- Using flock for a group of cattle, when cattle form a herd.
- Writing school for a group of whales, when whales form a pod.
- Forgetting that a group of crows is a murder and not a flock.
- Writing pride for a group of dogs, when dogs form a pack.
- Confusing a bevy of swans with a gaggle of geese.
High-Yield Pairs to Memorise
- Lion and pride; wolf and pack; cattle and herd; sheep and flock.
- Fish and school; bee and swarm; cat and clowder; puppy and litter.
- Crow and murder; owl and parliament; goose and gaggle; swan and bevy.
- Soldiers and army; singers and choir; actors and cast; ships and fleet.
- Stars and constellation; trees and grove; flowers and bouquet; eggs and clutch.
A Revision Plan for This Block
- Make three columns: animals, birds, and people with things, and learn one column a day.
- Underline the common words such as herd, flock, pack and school, because they cover many groups.
- Write the famous unusual ones on a separate card and revise them aloud.
- Write one sentence for every collective noun, so that the word is learnt in use.
- Revise the whole list twice a week and test yourself by covering the group column.
Collective Nouns Used in Sentences
The paper often tests a collective noun inside a sentence, and the candidate must supply the word that agrees with the group and the verb. A sentence may speak of a flock of sheep grazing in a field, a fleet of ships sailing from a port, or a constellation of stars in the night sky. Reading the sentence first, and asking which group is named, answers the question more safely than recalling a list without looking at the context.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a group of lions called?
A group of lions is called a pride. A group of wolves or dogs is called a pack, and a group of cattle is called a herd.
What is a group of crows called?
A group of crows is called a murder. It is one of the famous unusual collective nouns and it is asked very often.
What is a group of fish called?
A group of fish is called a school. A group of whales or dolphins is called a pod.
What is a group of sheep called?
A group of sheep is called a flock. Do not confuse it with a herd, which is used for cattle, elephants and horses.
What is a group of stars called?
A group of stars is called a constellation. A group of mountains is called a range and a group of trees is called a grove.