ENGLISH grammar NOUNS for all competitive exams (PART 2)

IMPORTANT RULES OF NOUNS OTHER THAN TYPES

                                                                         PART 2

RULE # 1 Both Singular and Plural

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Deer	Deer	Sheep	Sheep
Fish	Fish	Series	Series
Wages	Wages	Apparatus	Apparatus
Species	Species	offspring	offspring

SOME OTHER IMPORTANT SINGULARS AND THEIR PLURALS

agendum	agenda	alumnus	alumni
bacillus	bacilli	Bacterium	bacteria
dactum	data	formula	formulas/formulae
Plateau	plateaux	focus	foci
medium	media	radius	radii
Apparatus	Apparatus	Index	indices
Diagnosis	Diagnoses	Madam	Mesdames
Maximum	Maxima	Minimum	Minima

Foot	Feet	Poor	The poor
Rich	The rich	Blind	The blind
Tooth	Teeth	Ox	oxen

For eg: 

1. I saw ten deers in the jungle (incorrect) 

    I saw ten deer in the jungle (correct)

2. I saw two beautiful fishes in the pond. (incorrect)

    I saw two beautiful fish in the pond. (correct)

RULE # 2 Both Singular and Plural IF........

Singular – If noun is taken as a UNIT.

Plural – If noun is taken as a WHOLE.

Jury	Public	Team	Audience
Committee	Government	Orchestra	Parliament

For example

·         Jury has given its verdict.

                    Jury have taken their seats.

·         Team has won the match.

                    Team are changing their uniform.

                                                                                                  

RULE # 3 NUMERICAL + NOUN+NOUN

In a construction like five year plan the noun following the numerical is always singular. 
For e.g. a six year old child, a three man committee, an all party meeting.
1. She is sixteen years old. (incorrect)
    She is sixteen year old. (correct)
2. She goes for a two miles walk daily. (incorrect)
    She goes for a two mile walk daily. (correct)

RULE # 4 ONE OF, SOME OF, EACH OF, EITHER OF, NEITHER OF, ANY OF, NONE OF+ NOUN

In this construction the noun is always plural with singular verb.
For e.g.: He is one of the tallest boys. This is one of the best books.
1. One of the book is missing.             (incorrect)
    One of the books is missing.            (correct)
2. One of the girls are singing a song.  (incorrect)
    One of the girls is singing a song.    (correct)

RULE # 5 NOUN + FRACTION

For Example: i) Two and a half rupees.

   Two rupees and a half

      ii) One and a half years ago.

   A year and a half ago

RULE # 6 Noun after preposition is repeated in singular form. 

E.g. Word for word, face to face one on one

RULE # 7 Amount, weight, distance, name of a book or novel should be followed by singular verb.

for eg.

1. Ten miles are a long distance. (incorrect)

    Ten miles is a long distance.   (correct)

RULE # 8 Noun+and+Noun

# Two nouns connect with conjunction 'AND' should always followed by singular verb.

for eg. Poet and writer is dead.             (incorrect)

           Poet and writer are dead.            (correct)

# If either of the two nouns takes any article, it should be followed by singular verb.

for eg. A poet and writer are dead.        (incorrect)

           A poet and writer is dead.           (correct)

# If both the nouns take articles it should be followed by plural verb.

for eg. A poet and a writer is dead.        (incorrect)

            A poet and a writer are dead.     (correct)

SLANGS not to be used

1.      ‘Cousin’ is never followed by ‘brother’ & ‘sister’.

2.      ‘Poor people’ is a wrong use. It should be ‘The poor’, ‘The Rich’.

3.      Do not use abbreviations like ‘sign’ for ‘signature’.

4.      ‘English Teacher’ is a slag. It should be ‘Teacher of English’.

5.      Use ‘Room’ instead of ‘space’. Like ‘There is enough room for you in this car.’

6.      ‘Family member’ is a slag. It should be ‘Members of family’.

7.      Do not use she servant, she fox. It should be only servant and fox.

PRACTICE EXERCISE

  1.      His family is / are living in that house.

  2.      His family are / is living in various parts of Sydney.

  3.      The jury is / are in the courtroom.

  4.      The jury are / is still debating the case.

  5.      It is a three – years degree course.

  6.      The committee was divided on the issue.

  7.      Mathematics are not a difficult subject.

  8.      I go for a two miles walk daily.

  9.      One should not hate the poors.

10.      His foots slipped which caused him to fall heavily.

11.      Cambridge and Oxford University is in England.

12.      She likes to feed the poors.

13.      He is working for the blinds.

14.      I have a five dollars note.

15.      She has bought two dozens apples.

16.     I saw many deers in the jungle.

17.     Please put your sign here.

18.     She is my cousin sister.

19.     There is no place in this compartment.

20.     Doors to doors service are provided by this company.

ANSWERS

  1.      His family is living in that house.

  2.      His family are living in various parts of Sydney.

  3.      The jury is in the courtroom.

  4.      The jury are still debating the case.

  5.      It is a three – year degree course.

  6.      The committee were divided on the issue.

  7.      Mathematics is not a difficult subject.

  8.      I go for a two mile walk daily.

  9.      One should not hate the poor.

10.      His feet slipped which caused him to fall heavily.

11.      Cambridge and Oxford University are in England.

12.      She likes to feed the poor.

13.      He is working for the blind.

14.      I have a five dollar note.

15.      She has bought two dozen apples.

16.     I saw many deer in the jungle.

17.     Please put your sign here.

18.     She is my cousin .

19.     There is no room in this compartment.

20.     Door to door service is provided by this company.

Thanks 

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Leena vaish

Director (English Planet)

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