The English language has a lot of interesting expressions when it comes to talking about animals in groups, some of which are more well known than others.

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For example, when we speak about insects or certain types of fish, we use the word "the swarm," but cows and other grazing animals wander in "herds."

Finally, the swarm gets the better of the bear.

Caption 18, America's National Parks Yosemite

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Herd animals rely on safety in numbers.

Caption 48, BBC Planet Wild: Alien Animals

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For fish, you'll also hear "school" rather than "swarm." We say "a pod of whales" and "a pack of wolves."

Just last week, some surfers beat a hasty retreat to dry land after having a close encounter with a pod of killer whales off of Vancouver Island.

Captions 6-7, ABC News: Killer Sharks vs. Killer Whales

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The bear is stronger, but the wolves have the benefit of the pack.

Caption 5, Nature & Wildlife: Search for the Ghost Bear

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Interestingly, when birds fly together, they fly in a "flock." But when it comes to nesting, the chicks are called a "brood."

High up in the sky, a flock of birds were flying by.

Caption 30, Fairy Tales The Ugly Duckling - Part 2

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The mother duck wanted to comfort the Ugly Duckling, but she was much too busy taking care of the rest of her brood.

Captions 46-47, Story Hour: The Story of The Ugly Duckling

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Penguins and various burrowing animals are referred to as a "colony."

After his short excursion to the marmot colony, the male deer heads back to the lower areas of the park.

Captions 3-4, America's National Parks: Yosemite

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Further Learning

There are dozens of even odder words that are used to describe groups of animals, and not all of them appear on Yabla English. For example, you can say "a pride of lions," "a troop of monkeys," "a murder of crows," or "a parliament of owls."

Two English words that are often a source of confusion are "further" and "farther." Are they the same or not? It doesn't help that many native English speakers get these words mixed up, and that they are handled differently in British and American English. 

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In American English, "farther" refers to actual, measurable physical distance:

The second stage propelled the spacecraft even farther and faster into space.

Caption 45, Moon Landing: Apollo 11’s Journey to the Moon

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He looked out onto the meadow that stretched for as far as he could see and even farther.

Captions 57-59, Story Hour: The Story of The Ugly Duckling

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...like with the Andes, or farther inland like the Rocky Mountains.

Caption 63, The Last Paradises: America's National Parks

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The word "further," on the other hand, is used when talking about extent, amount, or figurative distance:

And we now face further uncertainty.

Caption 5, Brexit: PM Says He Will Pause Brexit Legislation after Timetable Loss

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Don't need to look no [sic, any] further.

Caption 4, Adele: The Making of "Chasing Pavements"

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First, the Americans released a further three hundred and fifty million dollars. 

Caption 13, BBC News: Western aid for Ukraine's military

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In British English, the word "further" is generally used for both physical distance and as a synonym for "more"/"even more," "additional," "extra," or "to a greater extent." "Farther" is still only used for physical distance.

Further Learning
You'll find many examples of "further" or "farther" on Yabla English. When you see these words, pay attention to the accent of the speaker as well as the context the word is used in.

Thanks to you all for reading this, keep up the good work! If you have any good ideas for lesson topics, please email them to us at [email protected], and you can tweet us @yabla.