Individual, collective and compound nouns in Spanish

What is an individual noun?

Individual nouns (sustantivos individuales) refer to single entities that can be divided into units. They can be used in the singular and the plural.

Example:

Casi todos los pasajeros están sentados.Nearly all the passengers are sitting down.

Hay un pasajero en el baño.There is a passenger in the bathroom.

Learn more about the rules for forming the plural of Spanish nouns.

What is a collective noun?

Collective nouns (sustantivos colectivos) refer to groups of people or things that share a common defining characteristic. Collective nouns are used in the singular because they refer to the group as a single unit. Some of these nouns can be used in the plural when they refer to several groups of the same type.

Examples:

En nombre de la tripulación, les deseo un buen vuelo.On behalf of the crew, I’d like to wish you a pleasant flight.

Las orquestas de Londres, Berlín y Nueva York están de gira por Latinoamérica.The orchestras of London, Berlin and New York are on tour in Latin America.

Collective nouns that keep the same root

Collective nouns usually keep the root of the individual nouns from which they stem, i.e. the nouns that refer to the separate elements within the group.

Examples:

tripulantes → la tripulacióncrew members → the crew

alumnos → el alumnadostudents → the student body

profesores → el profesoradoteachers → faculty

cubiertos → la cuberteríapiece of cutlery → cutlery

manteles → la manteleríatable cloth → table linens

clientes → la clientelaclients → clientele

Collective nouns with a different form

In some cases, the collective noun is very different to the individual noun it refers to. The collective nouns below that are marked with an asterisk (*) cannot be used in the plural in Spanish.

Examples:

personas → la gente*, la muchedumbre*person(s) → people, crowd

músicos → la orquestamusicians → orchestra

platos + vasos + fuentes + tazas → la vajillaplates, glasses, platters, cups → dinner service

letras → el abecedario*letters → the alphabet

palabras → el vocabulariowords → vocabulary

pelos → el cabellohairs → hair

estrellas → la constelaciónstars → constellation

islas → el archipiélagoislands → archipelago

ovejas → el rebañosheep → flock

peces → el bancofish → shoal

perros → la jauríadogs → pack

aves → la bandadabirds → flock

cerdos → la piarapigs → herd

abejas → el enjambrebees → swarm/hive

actores → el repartoactors → cast

animales → la fauna*animals → fauna

plantas → la flora*plants → flora

barcos → la flotaboats → fleet

Feminine collective nouns

Some collective nouns are made with the feminine singular form of the corresponding individual noun.

Examples:

bancos → la banca*banks → banking

leños → la leña*logs → firewood

frutos → la fruta*fruits → fruit

What is a compound noun?