A collective noun is a noun that indicates a group of animate beings or things of the same species.
- La gente (People)
- La folla (The crowd)
- La moltitudine (The multitude)
- Il gruppo (The group)
- L’insieme (The whole)
- La polizia (The Police)
- L’esercito (The army)
- La decina (The tenth)
- Il centinaio (The hundred)
- La serie (The series)
- Il gregge (The herd of sheep or goats)
- La mandria (The herd of cattle)
- Lo sciame (The swarm)
- Lo stormo (The flock- of birds)
- La mobilia (The furniture)
- Il popolo (The people)
In the case of collective nouns, the adjective and the verb agree with the “grammatical” number (in this case, singular) and not with the “logical” one.
- La gente racconta /
la gente raccontano. - La polizia armata /
la polizia armati.