Plurals, Gender Pairs and Collective Nouns: The Exception Lists Exams Test

Plurals, Gender and Collective Nouns: Three Small Topics, Many Marks

Nouns change form for number (singular or plural) and for gender (masculine, feminine, common, neuter). Groups of animals, people and things also have special names. Exams love these topics because the rules have many exceptions, and no amount of general English tells you that the plural of 'criterion' is 'criteria'.

The good news is that the patterns are limited. A few endings (-f/-fe, -o, -y), a short list of irregular plurals, a list of Latin and Greek words, a set of feminine pairs and about twenty collective nouns cover nearly every question in SSC, Railway and TRE-4 English papers.

This short sorts them into groups so that you remember patterns, not two hundred separate words.

1. What is the plural of 'criterion'?

2. Which of these nouns forms its plural by adding -es?

3. What is the feminine gender of 'nephew'?

4. Choose the correct collective noun: 'A ______ of lions'.

5. Choose the grammatically correct sentence.

6. What is the plural of 'mother-in-law'?

7. Which of these nouns has the same form in the singular and the plural?

8. Which of these words forms its plural by simply adding -s, not -ves?