De familie gaat op vakantie.
English: The family is going on vacation.
- Language
- Dutch
- Level
- B1
- Unit
- Zelfstandige naamwoorden en hoeveelheden
- Practice types
- 0
What this grammar point covers
Collective nouns in Dutch are words that refer to a group of people, animals, or things as a single unit. For example, a word that means 'a group of students' or 'a herd of cows'.
When to use it
Use collective nouns in Dutch when you want to talk about a group as a whole, instead of talking about each member separately. For example, when you talk about a family, a team, or an audience.
Key forms
- Words like: familie, publiek, team, publiek, publiek, groep, publiek, publiek.
- They are usually singular in form, even though they refer to more than one person or thing.
Examples
Het team wint de wedstrijd.
English: The team wins the match.
Het publiek klapt na het concert.
English: The audience applauds after the concert.
De groep maakt een foto.
English: The group takes a photo.
Tips
- Collective nouns in Dutch usually take singular verbs, not plural.
- Pay attention: sometimes you may want to talk about individual members of the group; then you need plural forms.
- Not all groups use collective nouns—sometimes you have to use the plural form.
Exceptions and edge cases
- Some collective nouns can be used with either singular or plural verbs, depending on whether you focus on the group as a whole or on the members.
- For example: 'Het team zijn allemaal studenten.' (The team are all students.)