Test Your Understanding - Nouns (Number)

Important: Please read the instructions for each question carefully. Follow the conventions of standard written English to answer the questions.

 

Fill in the blank with the noun used in its correct form:

 

The farmer could see many ___(blank)___ grazing in the field.

• A. cattles

• B. oxes

• C. sheep

• D. cow

Answer explanation

The quantifier ‘many’ indicates that we need a plural noun in the blank.

 

A is incorrect. ‘Cattle’ is a collective noun that is always used as a plural. It thus does not have a plural form ‘cattles’.

 

B is incorrect. The plural of ox is oxen.

 

D is incorrect. We need the plural ‘cows’ here.

 

C is the right answer. Some nouns have the singular and the plural alike, such as sheep, deer, swine, salmon, etc.

 

Which of the following sentences uses the noun ‘hair’ correctly?

• A. Aarav realised that his hairs was turning grey.

• B. Ana's hair is brown and golden.

• C. The furry animal’s hair were extremely soft.

• D. I love the way Priya’s hairs shine under this light.

Answer explanation

When we refer to hair on someone’s head in general, we use the uncountable noun ‘hair’. Uncountable nouns do not have a plural form. So, we say, ‘hair is’, not ‘hair are’ or hairs are’.

 

A and D are incorrect as they use ‘hairs’.

C is incorrect as it uses the plural verb ‘were’ with the uncountable noun ‘hair’.

B is the right answer. It uses the uncountable noun ‘hair’ in its correct form.

 

In the sentences below, the highlighted nouns may have been used incorrectly as singular when they should be used as plural and vice-versa. Evaluate them and mark the correct option out of A, B, C and D.

 

Sentence 1: It is time Ravi bought a new jeans.

 

Sentence 2: I put the present in Diya’s stocking while she was sleeping.

 

• A. Only sentence 1 is incorrect.

• B. Only sentence 2 is incorrect.

• C. Both the sentences are correct.

• D. Both the sentences are incorrect.

Answer explanation

The names of certain articles of dress such as jeans, trousers, etc. are considered plural and refer to a pair of these articles. Therefore, the article ‘a’ makes sentence 1 incorrect.

 

Sentence 1 should be written as:

It is time Ravi bought new jeans. OR

It is time Ravi bought a new pair of jeans.

 

Sentence 2 is correct. The noun ‘stocking’ is correctly used in the singular form, as it refers to one stocking in which a present is placed.

 

Therefore, A is the right answer.

The following sentence has four underlined nouns. Evaluate them and choose the pair of nouns that has been used correctly.

 

The woman could not believe that her friend’s baggages were heavy because of multiple packets of the same wheat breads.

• A. Woman, Packets

• B. Baggages, Packets

• C. Woman, Breads

• D. Packets, Breads

Answer explanation

‘Woman’ has been correctly used as a singular noun as the pronoun ‘her’ has been used to refer to the woman. 

‘Baggage’ is an uncountable noun and refers to all the bags a person carries while travelling. It does not have a plural ‘baggages’.

‘Packets’ has been correctly used as a plural noun as indicated by the quantifier ‘multiple’ before it.

'Bread', when referring to the commodity in general, is an uncountable noun. If the person were carrying different types of breads (focaccia bread, banana bread, etc.) then we could use ‘breads.’ 

Therefore, woman and packets are correct and A is the right answer.

Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct?

• A. Mukti loves her daughter-ins-law.

• B. Mukti loves her daughter-in-laws.

• C. Mukti loves her daughters-in-laws.

• D. Mukti loves her daughters-in-law.

Answer explanation

'Daughter-in-law’ is a compound noun. Such nouns generally form plurals by adding ‘s’ to the principal word. Here, the principal word is ‘daughter’, not ‘law’.

 

So, if Mukti has more than one daughter-in-law, the correct plural is ‘daughters-in-law’ (option D), not daughter-in-laws (option B) or daughters-in-laws (option C). A is incorrect as it adds ‘s’ after the preposition ‘in’.

 

Hence, D is the right answer.

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate nouns.

 

I gave her two good _(blank)_ for her trek through the _(blank)_.

• A. advice, wood

• B. advices, woods

• C. suggestion, wood

• D. suggestions, woods

Answer explanation

Advice meaning ‘counsel’ is an uncountable noun and does not have a plural form. So, option B using ‘advices’ is incorrect.

 

‘Wood’ is generally used as the name of a material and acts as an uncountable noun. However, the noun ‘woods’ is used to refer to a large area covered with trees, which fits the context here. So, A and C are eliminated.

 

Option D correctly uses the countable noun ‘suggestions’ in its plural form (notice the quantifier ‘two’) and the noun ‘woods’. It is the right answer.

In the sentences below, certain nouns may have been used incorrectly as singular when they should be used as plural and vice-versa. Evaluate them and mark the appropriate option out of A, B, C and D.

 

Sentence 1: What is the criteria for admission to the Indian Institute of Management?

 

Sentence 2: The study’s hypothesis have been confirmed.

• A. Only sentence 1 is incorrect.

• B. Only sentence 2 is incorrect.

• C. Both the sentences are correct.

• D. Both the sentences are incorrect.

Answer explanation

Criteria is the plural form of criterion and hypotheses is the plural of hypothesis.

Sentence 1 has a subject-verb mismatch and can be rewritten as follows:

What is the criterion for admission to the Indian Institute of Management? OR

What are the criteria for admission to the Indian Institute of Management?

 

Similarly, Sentence 2 can be rewritten as: 

The study’s hypothesis has been confirmed. OR

The study’s hypotheses have been confirmed.

 

Currently, both are incorrect. Hence, D is the right answer.

 

In the sentences below, the underlined nouns may have been used incorrectly as singular when they should be used as plural and vice-versa. Identify the grammatically correct sentence from the following:

• A. Gooses are usually found in wetlands.

• B. The police has been working hard since the pandemic.

• C. The Americans are an industrious people.

• D. Peoples gathered outside Naisha’s house.

Answer explanation

A is incorrect. The plural of ‘goose’ is ‘geese’, not ‘gooses’.

 

B is incorrect. Police is a collective noun that is typically treated as plural. Thus police should take the plural verb ‘have’.

 

D is incorrect. 'People' is already a plural noun.

 

C is the right answer. The construction ‘a people’ can be used to collectively refer to the citizens of a country. Therefore, it has been used correctly here as ‘an industrious people’.  

Which of the following sentences is grammatically incorrect?

• A. My mom gave me two spoonfuls of syrup when I had a cold.

• B. Javed used two handfuls of rice per person for this dish.

• C. Lakshmi does not know how many spoonsful of sugar are needed for the cake.

• D. Only a handful of people came for the graduation ceremony yesterday.

Answer explanation

When you measure anything using a spoon, do you fill the same spoon multiple times, or do you take a different spoon each time? This can be a hack to remember why the plural of ‘spoonful’ is not ‘spoonsful’.

 

‘Spoonful’ and ‘handful’ are regarded as one word. When they are pluralised, the ‘s’ is added at the end. Therefore, A and B are correct.

 

D also correctly uses the singular noun ‘handful’.

 

C incorrectly adds an ‘s’ after spoon. It is thus the right answer.

The sentence underlined below has been phrased in four ways in A, B, C, and D. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Choose the construction that is free of grammatical error.

 

My life is a mess! Mumps is giving me a hard time, and this goggles does not fit my bloated face anymore.

 

• A. Mumps is giving me a hard time, and this goggles does not fit my bloated face anymore.

• B. Mumps is giving me a hard time, and these goggles do not fit my bloated face anymore.

• C. Mumps are giving me a hard time, and these goggles do not fit my bloated face anymore.

• D. Mumps are giving me a hard time, and this goggles does not fit my bloated face anymore.

Answer explanation

The names of some diseases such as measles, mumps, rickets, etc. end in ‘s’ and thus look plural. But they are in fact singular. Therefore, option C and D, using ‘Mumps are..’ are incorrect.

 

Instruments such as spectacles, goggles, scissors, etc., which have two parts and form a pair, are always used as plural. So, option A, using ‘this goggles does not…’ is incorrect.

 

B is the right answer, with ‘Mumps is’ and ‘these googles do not…’