Collective nouns are nouns which stand for a group or collection of people or things. They include words such as audience, class, committee, crew, family, government, group and team. They are treated as singular, with a singular verb.
√ The whole family eats supper together.
√ The government is announcing an election soon.
√ He prefers an audience that arrives without expectations.
A common error for English learners is to use the plural verb because the word repesents more than one person. For example, "My family are going on vacation." Although these nouns consist of more than one person, the word represents one entity.
