Nouns & Pronouns

At a glance 10 rules

1. 1Uncountable nounsAdvice, information, furniture, luggage and equipment take no 'a' and no plural: 'a piece of advice', 'some luggage', never 'advices'.
2. 2Plural or singular'Police', 'cattle', 'people' and 'scissors' take a plural verb; 'news' and 'physics' take a singular one: 'The news is good; the police are here.'
3. 3Number plus nounBefore a noun, a number and its noun stay singular and hyphenated: 'a five-day trip', 'a two-storey house', but 'the trip lasts five days'.
4. 4Greek and Latin pluralsSome borrowed nouns keep their own plurals: one criterion, two criteria; one phenomenon, many phenomena. 'Criteria' is never singular.
5. 5I or meDrop the other name and listen: 'Kabir and I left early' (I left). As an object or after a preposition, use me, him, her: 'they thanked Kabir and me'.
6. 6We or usDrop the noun to choose: 'We students were told' (we were told); 'meant for us students' (for us).
7. 7Myself, himselfA -self pronoun reflects the subject or adds emphasis; it never stands in for I or me: 'Riya and I will host' and 'call Riya or me', not 'myself'.
8. 8Who, whom, whoseTest with he or him: who (or whoever) where 'he' fits, whom where 'him' fits: 'the friend with whom I travel', 'give it to whoever asks'. Whose shows possession.
9. 9No apostrophePossessive pronouns never take an apostrophe: yours, ours, theirs, hers, its. 'It's' is short for 'it is'.
10. 10One clear nounA pronoun must point to one noun only. 'Aman told Dev he had passed' is unclear, so name the person instead.