1.1.

3 RULES FOR ERROR SPOTING

RULE 1: Some nouns are always used in singular we

should not use indefinite articles like a/an with such
nouns. Since, these nouns are uncountable and
hence they always take a singular verb.
Ex; Scenery, poetry, furniture, advice, information,
hair, mischief, bread, stationery, crockery, luggage,
baggage, postage, knowledge, wastage, money,
jewelry, breakage, fuel, rice, repair, greenery,
gratitude, maintenance, safety, rubbish, wastage,
espionage, status, information, homemade,
machinery, music, Liberty, garbage, drainage,
Heritage, electricity, equipment, health, traffic, etc.
Ex—please don’t talk rubbish, I have information
regarding the virus.

RULE 2: Some nouns look plural in form but they

are singular in nature and such nouns always take a
singular verb
Ex; News, Economics, physics, statistics, linguistics,
mathematics, classics, ethics, athletics, innings,
gallows, measles, mechanics, mumps, rabies,
diabetes, rickets, billiards, draughts, politics,
genetics, dynamics, etc.
Ex- The first innings is finished. The news is true.

RULE 3: Some nouns always remain in the plural

form and hence take plural verbs. These nouns have
no singular form.
Ex; alms, amends, clothes, archives, ashes, arrears,
athletics, auspices, species, scissors, trousers, pants,
Clippers, gallows, fangs, eyeglasses, goggles,
belongings, surroundings, shoes, earnings, braces,
binoculars, dregs, earnings, entrails, embers,
fireworks, longings, odds, outskirts, particulars,
proceeds, proceedings, riches, remains, shambles,
shears, spectacles, tidings, tactics, tongs, valuables,
wages, fireworks, etc.
Ex- Don't use these scissors to cut paper or a card.
She took a pair of scissors and cut the string.

RULE 4: Some nouns are singular in form, but they

are used as plural nouns and cans that take a plural
verb.
Ex; Cattle, cavalry, poultry, children, artillery, clergy,
police, people, gentry, vermin, etc.
Ex- Cattle are grazing in the field.
Children are playing in the garden.

RULE 5: Plural noun or plural pronoun is used after

these phrases; one of, each of, either of, neither of,
any one of, a few of, very few of, half of, a lot of, a
large number of, etc. (If the noun is uncountable it'll
take the singular form)
Ex- One of the players got injured.
None of the articles has been sold.
Any of the boys can do this.
He gave me a lot of advice.

RULE 6: If a collective noun is indicating Unity then

the verb taken is singular & if the collective noun is
indicating separation or division the verb will be
plural.
Ex; The crowd was waiting for the chief minister.
The Jury were divided in this case.
The Jury’s decision on that case was unanimous.

RULE 7: Noun + preposition + same noun is

considered singular enhance the verb taken is also
singular.
Ex; City after City, Door to door, village after village,
page after page, row upon row.
City of the city was destroyed by Alexander the
Great.
I read the book page after page.

RULE 8: The unit of measurement (such as - hour,

pound, kilo, mile…etc.) structures:
‘Half + a/an + unit of measurement (singular)
Ex; Half a kilo, Half an hour, half a liter.

The unit of measurement (such as – hour, pound,

kilo, mile…etc.) is also used in the singular form in
the structure – ‘A + half + unit of measurement’; as,
‘A half kilo’, ‘A half hour’.

Therefore,
(i) Half + a/an + unit of measurement (singular)
(ii) A/an + singular noun + and + a half or; numeral
+ Plural noun + and + a half
Ex; 1.5 kg, 4.5 liters, 3.5 meters,
(i)One and a half kilos, four and a half liters, three
and a half meters.
(ii) A kilo and a half, Four kilos and a half, three
meters and a half.

RULE 9: A + cardinal adjective + singular noun

Ex; A five-men committee. (In-correct)
A five-man committee. (correct)
I have a ten-rupee note.
He is a fifty-year old man.

RULE 10: Numeral + Cardinal adjective + plural noun

Ex; I have three ten-rupee notes
 Two five-man committees
Ten five-rupee notes

RULE 11: Numerals and quantity & measurement.

With numerals and quantities like dozen, hundred,
millions, pair, scores, unit, etc, following structures
are used.
(i) Numeral + quantity(singular) + plural noun
Ex; five dozen bananas, Three dozen eggs, A/one
dozen bananas.
Four hundred students, five million rupees, A score
of men lost their lives in the battle .
But, if the numeral is not present before the
quantity then this structure is followed.

(ii) quantity(plural) + Pluran noun

Ex: hundreds of students participated in the event.
"Look at the pigeons in the park. There are dozens
of them"
"We expected three or four applicants for the job,
but there were scores of them".
Exception; If quantity is followed by indefinite
numeral adjective like several, many, some, a few,
& any other these then they (quantity) will be in
plural form.
He has got a few dozens of pencils, The Company
had several scores of laborers under their contract,
A few hundreds of men work in this big MNC.

RULE 12: Nouns which are always same both in

singular and plural. Verb depends on the subject is
singular or plural
Ex; Sheep, deer, Series, Species, Crew, team, Jury,
Aircraft, (Fish**)
Ex- The Sheep is grazing the field.
The Sheep are grazing the field.
RULE 13: Some nouns take a totally a different
meaning when they are made plural
Ex; water=waters(ocean/seas) ,
good=goods(merchandise) , sand=sands(desert),
arm=arms(weapons) , manner=manners(discipline),
practice= practices(habit), Return=Returns(profit),
Way=Ways(method)

RULE 14: Rule of apostrophe

Apostrophes are used with only living beings.
Possession or ownership is indicated by apostrophe.
Ex; Rahul’s house is very nice.
Neeta is Raghu’s daughter.
Rajiv and Ram’s father (same person)
Rajiv’s and Ram’s father (different person)
RULE 15: If two adjectives are joined by 'and' and
'The' is used before the first adjectives, A plural
noun is used after the second Adjective.
Example
Dr. S.S. Prasad was an examiner of the Patna and
Bihar universities.
Incorrect: Dr. S.S. Prasad was an examiner of the
Patna and Bihar university.

Rule 16: If two adjectives are joined by 'and' and

'The' used before both Adjectives or each Adjective,
A singular noun is used after the second Adjectives.
Example
The first and the second chapter of this book are
interesting.
Incorrect: The first and the second chapters of this
book are interesting.
RULE 17: Some nouns are known as common
gender nouns. They can be used for either gender;
Male or Female. These are called dual gender
nouns. Such nouns are: teacher, student, child,
clerk, candidate. advocate, worker, writer, author,
leader, musician, politician, enemy, client,
president, person, Neighbour etc. When these are
used in singular, use third person singular masculine
(his) pronoun with them.
Examples
(a) Every candidate should write his (not her) name.
(b) Every person should perform his (not her) duty.
Each. either, everyone. everybody, no one, nobody,
neither, anybody are also common gender
pronouns.
RULE 18: Some nouns are used for specifically for
feminine gender only. i.e, blonde, maid, mid
wife,etc.
.