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[Tricky42]

OK all you native Vietnamese speakers....and no cheating on the Internet!

I am going to ask you for the collective nouns for

1. Lions
2. Geese (flying)
3. Geese (waddling)
4. Crows
6. People
7. Paper
8. Horses
9. Whales
10. Seagulls

[Phong Lan]

Hi, why no cheating? Don't you trust your dict too?

However, here are the answers you can trust

1. Lions = Sư tử
2. Geese (flying) = Thiên nga (ngỗng trời)
3. Geese (waddling) = Ngỗng
4. Crows = Quạ
6. People = Con người
7. Paper = Giấy
8. Horses = Ngựa
9. Whales = Cá heo
10. Seagulls = Hải âu

Cheers,

Phong Lan

[Tricky42]

These answers are translations of the nouns. I've asked for the collectives.

I'll start you on the first .......

1. A pride of lions

OK?

[Phong Lan]

Oops, sorry . Understand now. So these may be what you need:

For animals, we use "bầy" or "đàn", for example:
1. Lions -> Một bầy/đàn Sư tử
2. Geese (flying) -> Một bầy/đàn Thiên nga (ngỗng trời)
3. Geese (waddling) -> Một bầy/đàn Ngỗng
4. Crows -> Một bầy/đàn Quạ

and:
5. People -> Một nhóm/tốp/toán người
6. Paper -> Một xấp/tập Giấy

Is that ok ?

[Tricky42]

Not quite... You need to write the English collective noun. So pride is the English collective noun for a group of Lions. In Vietnamese the collective noun for animal is con and for things is cai We use collective nouns in English but they are very unusual. For example, I have asked for the collective nouns for flying geese and waddling (walking) geese because they are different. The collective noun for a group of crows is very unusual. The general term for a group of birds is a flock but the correct collective noun can depend on the species of bird and also whether the bird is flying or walking. Don't be too confused as the grammar is easy but remembering the many collective nouns is difficult. If in doubt just say 'group of' if you don't know the correct collective noun.
I hope that helps.
R.

[justdoit]

Hi, why no cheating? Don't you trust your dict too?

However, here are the answers you can trust

1. Lions = Sư tử
2. Geese (flying) = Thiên nga (ngỗng trời)
3. Geese (waddling) = Ngỗng
4. Crows = Quạ
6. People = Con người
7. Paper = Giấy
8. Horses = Ngựa
9. Whales = Cá heo
10. Seagulls = Hải âu

Cheers,

Phong Lan

Please allow me to make a correction

9. Whales = Cá voi
cá heo = dolphin

BTW, tricky42, sorry for spoiling your fun, but here is a link to collective nouns:

http://rinkworks.com/words/collective.shtml

peace out.

[Phong Lan]

Thank Justdoit. You are a great peace-maker.

Sorry again Richard , I did not know these are your quizzes . But there is one thing that I know for sure: "con" and "cái" are not collective nouns. They can't indicate the plural of nouns. They are "CHỈ TỪ", belong to "ĐỊNH TỪ" word-type group and may be called "Attribute" in English.

[MANH NGUYEN]

Thank Justdoit. You are a great peace-maker.

Sorry again Richard , I did not know these are your quizzes . But there is one thing that I know for sure: "con" and "cái" are not collective nouns. They can't indicate the plural of nouns. They are "CHỈ TỪ", belong to "ĐỊNH TỪ" word-type group and may be called "Attribute" in English.

mạo từ: cái, con, người...
the house
cái nhà
the cat
con mèo
ấy, này (người, cái, con...)
I dislike the man
tôi không thích người này
duy nhất (người, vật...)
he is the shoemaker here
ông ta là người thợ giày duy nhất ở đây

[Tanyenbai]

1. Lions = Sư tử
2. Geese (flying) = Thiên nga= Swan (ngỗng trời) sếu?
3. Geese (waddling) = Ngỗng
4. Crows = Quạ
6. People = Con người
7. Paper = Giấy
8. Horses = Ngựa
9. Whales = cá voi. Cá heo= dolphin
10. Seagulls = Hải âu

[Phong Lan]

Tricky42, I feel sorry for your quizzes . And Justdoit ơi, please play your role again!!! MANH NGUYEN and Tanyenbai, thank you for your supports