Start here · the first lesson of Nouns: number, countability, possessives
Nouns: number, countability, possessives
Grammar: Voice, Narration, Tenses + Rule Bank · for IPMAT Indore, IPMAT Rohtak and JIPMAT
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The idea
English nouns are either countable (a bag, two bags) or uncountable (luggage, advice). The difference decides the plural, the article and the quantity word (fewer bags, less luggage). A second group of rules covers nouns whose form misleads: plural-looking nouns that are singular (news), nouns that are always plural (police), number + noun used as an adjective (a five-rupee note), possessives and "kind of". Rohtak 2020 Q20 (drop little sugar) and Indore 2021 Q19 (less people) are of this type.
Textbook vs exam method
Textbook method
Uncountable nouns (uncountable-no-plural, fewer-less, few-a-few)
| Rule | Right | Wrong |
|---|---|---|
| No plural, singular verb | The information is useful. | The informations are useful. |
| fewer / many with countable; less / much with uncountable | Fewer people, less traffic. | There were less people. |
| little / few = hardly any (negative); a little / a few = some (positive) | Add a little sugar to sweeten the tea. | Add little sugar to sweeten the tea. |
Common uncountables: information, advice, furniture, luggage, baggage, equipment, machinery, scenery, stationery, poetry, knowledge, news. Make them countable with a unit: a piece of advice, an item of furniture.
Plural forms (sva-plural-form-singular, always-plural-nouns, compound-adjective-singular, one-of-plural-noun, possessive-apostrophe, this-kind-of, determiner-each-every)
| Rule | Right | Wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Plural in form, singular in meaning | The news is good; mathematics is my subject. | The news are good. |
| Always plural | The police have arrested the thief; the cattle are grazing. | The police has arrested… |
| "A pair of" is singular | A pair of scissors costs forty rupees. | — |
| Number + noun as an adjective stays singular | a five-rupee note, a ten-year-old boy, two dozen eggs | a five-rupees note, two dozens eggs |
| One of the + plural noun | one of the best players | one of the best player |
| 's for one owner, s' for plural owners ending in s, 's for plurals without s | the story's plot, the teams' captains, the children's park | the storys plot, the childrens' park |
| this kind of + singular; these kinds of + plural | This kind of mistake is common. | These kind of mistakes… |
| each / every + singular noun | Every student has a locker. | Every students has… |
Note: statistics, economics, politics take a plural verb when they mean particular figures or views (The statistics are wrong).
Exam method
- Circle the nouns. near the quantity words, articles and verbs.
- Countable?. If not, there can be no -s, no a/an, no "many / few / fewer".
- Misleading form?. news / mathematics → singular; police / cattle / people → plural.
- Number + noun before a noun?. Must be singular and hyphenated.
- One of / each / every / this kind of?. Check the noun's number.
- Few vs a few. read the meaning: "luckily / so I could" needs the positive "a few".