Clerkship English Quiz: Nouns and Pronouns
A little practice. A step forward.
12 questions on nouns and pronouns, each with an explanation. 📖 Read the detailed topic
In 'a flock of sheep', which word is the collective noun?
A collective noun names a group as one unit. Here 'flock' is the group of sheep. 'Sheep' is a common noun, 'of' a preposition and 'a' an article.
- A collective noun names a group
- Flock = a group of birds or sheep
- Team, committee, jury and crowd are collective nouns too
- 'Sheep' is one animal, not the group itself
- See a group, think collective: flock, herd, army, crew
| Group of | Collective noun |
|---|---|
| cattle | herd |
| fish | shoal |
| ships | fleet |
| members | committee |
Which of the following is an abstract noun?
An abstract noun names something that cannot be touched: a quality, feeling or state. 'Honesty' is a quality, so it is abstract. Table, river and teacher can be touched, so they are common nouns.
- Abstract noun = quality, idea, state
- Honest (adjective) gives honesty (noun)
- Freedom, childhood and courage are abstract too
- 'Honest' is an adjective, not a noun
- If you can touch it, it is concrete; if you can only think it, it is abstract
Fill in the blank: Mathematics ___ my favourite subject.
'Mathematics' looks plural but is the name of one subject, so it takes a singular verb: 'is'. 'Are', 'were' and 'have been' go with plural subjects.
- Mathematics, physics and economics are singular
- The name of a subject takes a singular verb
- News is singular too: The news is true
- Seeing the final s and choosing a plural verb is the classic trap
- Ending in s does not make a subject-name plural
| Word | Verb |
|---|---|
| Mathematics | is |
| News | is |
| Scissors | are |
| Trousers | are |
Fill in the blank: The police ___ arrived at the spot.
'Police' is always used as a plural noun, so it takes the plural verb 'have'. 'Has', 'is' and 'was' are singular.
- Police, people and cattle are always plural
- The police have arrived
- 'Police' takes 'the' before it
- A team or committee can be singular, but police never is
- Police means policemen, so have
'Ravi and I went to the market. ___ bought fruits.' Which pronoun fits?
'Ravi and I' includes the speaker, so the first person plural 'We' fits. 'They' is for others, 'You' for the listener and 'He' for one male person.
- We = I + someone else
- We is the plural of I
- A pronoun stands for a noun
- Writing They is wrong because the speaker is part of the group
- Speaker plus others means We
Fill in the blank: Between you and ___, this is a secret.
'Between' is a preposition, and a preposition takes the object form. The object form of I is 'me', so 'between you and me' is correct. 'I' is the subject form, 'myself' is reflexive and 'mine' is possessive.
- A preposition takes the object form
- Object forms: me, him, her, us, them
- 'Between you and me' is a well-known rule
- Many people say 'between you and I', but that is wrong in exams
- After between, with, for and to, use me, not I
| Subject | Object | Possessive | Reflexive |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | me | mine | myself |
| he | him | his | himself |
| she | her | hers | herself |
| we | us | ours | ourselves |
| they | them | theirs | themselves |
Fill in the blank: She hurt ___ while cooking.
The subject and the object are the same person, so the reflexive pronoun 'herself' is needed. 'She' is the subject form, 'her' the object form and 'hers' the possessive.
- Reflexive pronouns: myself, herself, themselves
- Use it when subject and object are the same person
- They end in -self or -selves
- 'Her' would suggest she hurt somebody else
- Herself means she did it to herself
Fill in the blank: This book is ___.
The blank needs a possessive pronoun that can stand alone, and 'mine' can. 'My' must be followed by a noun (my book), so it does not fit here.
- Possessive pronouns stand alone: mine, yours, hers, ours, theirs
- Possessive adjectives come before a noun: my, your, her
- Hers and ours take no apostrophe
- 'My book' and 'mine' cannot be used together
- With a noun use my; without one use mine
What kind of noun is 'furniture'?
Furniture is a mass of things that cannot be counted one by one, so it is an uncountable (mass) noun. It takes no 'a' and has no plural: 'furnitures' is wrong. It can be touched, so it is not abstract.
- Uncountable nouns have no plural
- Furniture, luggage, information and advice are uncountable
- Use 'a piece of furniture' for one item
- 'Furnitures' and 'informations' are favourite exam traps
- Furniture, luggage, information, advice: we measure them by the piece
| Wrong | Correct |
|---|---|
| furnitures | furniture |
| informations | information |
| a luggage | a piece of luggage |
| an advice | a piece of advice |
Fill in the blank: The man ___ lives next door is a doctor.
'The man' is a person, and the blank is the subject of 'lives', so the subject relative pronoun 'who' fits. 'Whom' is for objects, 'which' for things and 'whose' shows possession.
- Who for people, which for things
- Whom takes the object place
- Whose means belonging to
- 'Whom' sounds formal, so people pick it wrongly
- If a verb follows straight away, use who
| Pronoun | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| who | person, subject | The girl who sings |
| whom | person, object | The girl whom I met |
| which | thing or animal | The book which I read |
| whose | possession | The boy whose bag |
In 'Everyone should do his duty', which word is an indefinite pronoun?
An indefinite pronoun does not point to a particular person or thing. 'Everyone' means people in general, so it is an indefinite pronoun. 'Do' and 'should' are verbs and 'duty' is a noun.
- Indefinite pronouns: everyone, someone, nobody, anything
- Everyone takes a singular verb
- 'His' here is a possessive adjective
- Duty and Everyone both look like names, but one is a noun and the other a pronoun
- Every, some, any or no + one, body or thing gives an indefinite pronoun
Fill in the blank: Neither of the two books ___ useful.
Even though a plural noun follows 'neither of', 'neither' itself is singular, so the singular verb 'is' is needed. 'Are', 'were' and 'have been' are plural. The same rule holds for each of, either of and one of.
- Neither, either, each and one are singular
- Neither of + plural noun + singular verb
- Everyone and nobody are singular too
- Writing 'are' because of 'books' is the commonest mistake
- Each, either, neither: think of one at a time, so is
📊 Topic Analysis
12 questions on nouns and pronouns, each with an explanation.
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