group
A1Neutral, used in all registers from informal to highly technical.
Definition
Meaning
A number of people or things that are located, gathered, or classed together, forming a distinct entity.
A commercial organisation with several subsidiary companies; a division of musicians or artists performing together; in chemistry, a column of elements in the periodic table; in mathematics, a set with an operation that combines any two elements to form a third, satisfying certain conditions.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Primarily a collective noun. Can be concrete (a group of people) or abstract (a group of theories). The verb form, meaning to arrange or classify in groups, is also very common.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Minimal. Spelling is identical. The verb is equally common in both varieties. In business contexts, 'group' as a company name might be slightly more prevalent in UK English (e.g., 'The Virgin Group').
Connotations
None specific to either variety.
Frequency
The word is core vocabulary and equally frequent in both UK and US English.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
N + of + N (a group of tourists)V + N (to form a group)V + together (to group together)V + N + into + N (to group students into teams)Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “to fall into a group”
- “a group effort”
- “to break ranks from the group”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Refers to a holding company or conglomerate (e.g., 'The sales figures for the entire group'). Also used for project teams.
Academic
Used in sociology, psychology, and science. Key in experimental design ('control group'), social analysis ('social group'), and chemistry ('functional group').
Everyday
Very common for describing people together (friends, tourists) or things sorted together (photos, groceries).
Technical
In mathematics (group theory), computing (group permissions), music (musical group), and military (battle group).
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- Can you group the feedback by theme?
- The children were grouped according to ability.
American English
- Group the expenses into travel and supplies.
- The software groups related files together automatically.
adverb
British English
- The data is presented group-wise.
- They travelled group-fashion to save costs.
American English
- The chairs were arranged group-style for the discussion.
adjective
British English
- The group decision was unanimous.
- We offer a group booking discount for ten or more.
American English
- She has great group dynamics skills.
- The company's group health insurance plan is excellent.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- I saw a group of children playing in the park.
- Our English class has a small group.
- We need to organise everyone into working groups for the project.
- Which blood group are you?
- The study compared the results of the test group with those of the control group.
- Several pressure groups are lobbying the government on this issue.
- The elements are arranged in the periodic table according to their atomic number and chemical group.
- The mathematical structure is proven to be an abelian group under this operation.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of a 'group' of grapes - many individual grapes bunched together to form one unit.
Conceptual Metaphor
SIMILARITY IS PROXIMITY / CATEGORIES ARE CONTAINERS (Things that are similar are grouped together, as if placed in the same container or physical space).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid directly translating 'группа крови' as 'blood group' in very formal medical contexts where 'blood type' is preferred in the US.
- The Russian 'группа (компаний)' maps directly to '(corporate) group'.
- The verb 'сгруппировать' maps perfectly to 'to group'.
Common Mistakes
- Using a plural verb with 'group' when considering it as a single entity (e.g., 'The group is waiting' is correct, not 'The group are waiting' - though 'are' is possible in UK English with a collective sense).
- Confusing 'group' with 'crowd' (a 'crowd' is large and unorganized; a 'group' can be small and organised).
Practice
Quiz
In which context is 'group' used as a technical term for a fundamental algebraic structure?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Both are used, depending on dialect and emphasis. American English almost always uses a singular verb ('is'). British English can use a singular verb when considering the group as a single unit ('The group is large') or a plural verb when emphasizing the individual members ('The group are arguing among themselves').
A 'team' implies a stronger sense of shared purpose, interdependence, and collaboration towards a common goal (e.g., a sports team, project team). A 'group' is a more general term for any collection and may not have a shared objective (e.g., a group of tourists, a group of plants). All teams are groups, but not all groups are teams.
Yes, very commonly. It means to put people or things into one or more groups based on shared characteristics (e.g., 'Group the animals by habitat', 'The data points group into two distinct clusters').
It entered English in the late 17th century from French 'groupe', which came from Italian 'groppo' or 'gruppo', meaning a 'knot' or 'cluster'. The Italian term likely has Germanic origins, related to the Proto-Germanic root *kruppaz ('round mass, lump').