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Old 14-Aug-2004, 15:12
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Default collective nouns

Collective Nouns



1. A panel of judges will decide on the winning entry.

2. Several rows of flats were built to solve the housing problem.

3. You have to go up a set of stairs to reach the bedrooms.

4. A flash of lightning lit the sky followed by loud roar of thunder; big quantity of water began to fall.

5. Several sheets of paper fluttered to the floor as a gust of wind blew through he window.

6. A group of people gathered round the scene of the accident. There was a stain of blood on the road beside the overturned car.

7. Janet went to the shop and bought a jug of milk, four bags of flour, a loaf of bread and a bottle of tomato sauce.

8. Among the presents she received were a piece of cloth, a bottle of perfume, a pair of glasses and a bunch of flowers.

9. The audience stood up as the head of Ministers filed into the conference room.

10. A beam of sunlight penetrated through the window and shone on a bunch of fruit on the table.


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Old 14-Aug-2004, 17:47
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Default Re: collective nouns

Looks fabulous. I've just a few minor suggestions. :D

2. Several rows of flats were built to solve the housing problem.
==> But in America--going back to your previous post about "at"--'apartments were built' would be the norm. :wink:

4. A flash of lightning lit the sky followed by a loud roar of thunder; a large quantity of water began to fall.
==> The underlined portion sound odd.

5. Several sheets of paper fluttered to the floor as a gust of wind blew through the window.
==> Typo. the, not he.

6. A group of people gathered round the scene of the accident. There was a stain of blood on the road beside the overturned car.
==> I'd use around or 'round. :D

9. The audience stood up as the head of Ministers filed into the conference room.
==> Tdol'll catch this. I'm Canadian, and so, 'head of Ministers' sounds odd to me. We don't pay that much attention to politics. We trust too much. :D It's a British term, right?

All the best, :D
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Old 14-Aug-2004, 18:19
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We have a Head of State.
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Old 15-Aug-2004, 00:19
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Yeah, in North America ' apartments ' are the same as ' flats ' in Britain I guess.

I agree that 4 sounds odd, and doesn't look like English phrase at the end. I'd better scrap it.

How about *** 4. Looking down through the windows of the plane we could see a stretch of islands amidst a large quantity of water. ***


Somehow I am not fond of repeated word, I would stick to ' group ' at 6:P

Head of Ministers is nothing wrong in politics, but ' head ' is not the collective noun. Agreed ? I am trying to figure out another term that might fit in. Any suggestions ?[/b]
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Old 15-Aug-2004, 17:19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whl626
Yeah, in North America ' apartments ' are the same as ' flats ' in Britain I guess.
Know you audience. :wink: Choose words that are used in all dialects.

Quote:
I agree that 4 sounds odd, and doesn't look like English phrase at the end. I'd better scrap it.
Why not add, "Buckets of rain began to fall." :D

Quote:
How about *** 4. Looking down through the windows of the plane we could see a stretch of islands amidst a large quantity of water. ***
a large body of water :wink:

Quote:
Somehow I am not fond of repeated word, I would stick to ' group ' at 6:P
You've missed the point. You wrote 'round'. The word is actually spelled around or 'round with an apostrophe replacing omitted 'a'. :D

Quote:
Head of Ministers is nothing wrong in politics, but ' head ' is not the collective noun. Agreed ? I am trying to figure out another term that might fit in. Any suggestions ?[/b]
Nope. Sorry.
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