Meaning & use
collection
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Meanings
nouncountable
A group of similar objects gathered together, often as a hobby or for display.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a collection' or 'collections'.
Patterns
- a collection of something
- someone's collection
He has a large collection of stamps from around the world.
The museum's collection includes ancient pottery and jewelry.
She keeps her collection of vintage postcards in a special album.
noununcountable
The act of gathering things together, especially systematically.
Grammar: Uncountable: used without 'a' or a plural, e.g. 'data collection'.
Patterns
- the collection of something
- data collection
The collection of data for the study took several months.
Trash collection happens every Tuesday in our neighborhood.
The collection of evidence was carefully documented.
nouncountable
A group of things released together, such as stories, poems, or songs.
Grammar: Countable: often followed by 'of' and a plural noun.
Patterns
- a collection of stories/poems/songs
She published a collection of short stories last year.
This album is a collection of their greatest hits.
He gave me a collection of poems by his favorite author.
nouncountable
A sum of money gathered from people, often for charity or a cause.
Grammar: Countable: often used with 'take' or 'make'.
Patterns
- take a collection
- a collection for something
We took a collection for the local food bank.
The church holds a collection every Sunday.
A collection was made to help the family after the fire.
Word forms
| plural | collections |
|---|
Common combinations
- art collection
- The museum's art collection is world-famous.
- data collection
- Data collection must follow privacy laws.
- stamp collection
- His stamp collection fills three albums.
- take up a collection
- They took up a collection for the homeless shelter.
- collection of poems
- She bought a collection of poems by Mary Oliver.
Synonyms and how they differ
- assortment
- Assortment emphasizes a variety of different types, while collection often implies items of the same kind gathered intentionally.
- compilation
- Compilation is used for works like songs or writings gathered from various sources; collection is broader.
- set
- Set suggests a complete group that belongs together, while collection may be incomplete or ongoing.
Word family
- collect verb
- To gather things together.
- collector noun
- A person who collects things.
- collective adjective
- Shared by a group.
Commonly confused: collection or collation?
collection vs collation
Collation means the act of comparing or assembling pages in order, not a group of objects.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'collection' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Collection is a noun, so it fits after 'a' and before 'of'. The other options use it as a verb or in an ungrammatical way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “collection”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.