Collective nouns are nouns which represent a group of people or things. They include words such as audience, family, government, group, and team. Most collective nouns are treated as a singular entity, using the singular verb form. Because collective nouns include multiple "members" inside of them you may think you would use the "they" form of the verb, but you don't. For example, you don't say the group are happy, you say the group is happy.