English Nouns quiz

More questions about English Nouns

These visible examples show the question style. LearnClash turns the full topic into ranked duels and spaced repetition.

1. 1 Easy

   What term is used as the collective noun for a group of crows?

   Answer: Murder

   Why: The OED cites 'a morther of crowys' from 1475 and calls it one of many alleged group names in medieval word lists.

2. 2 Medium

   What is the correct plural form of the noun "passerby"?

   Answer: passersby

   Why: The hyphenated spelling with the same internal s is equally standard, since the plural marks the noun and not the preposition.

3. 3 Hard

   What is a verb acting as a noun using "-ing" called?

   Answer: gerund

   Why: The present participle wears exactly the same ending, and the only thing separating the two is the job the word is doing in the sentence.

4. 4 Easy

   Which Roman deity gives their name to the noun "Saturday"?

   Answer: Saturn

   Why: It is the only day that kept its Roman god, since four others were swapped for Norse ones and two simply translate the Latin sun and moon.

5. 5 Medium

   Which plural form does the noun criterion take?

   Answer: criteria

   Why: Criterion retains its Greek plural pattern, changing its ending from -on to -a.

6. 6 Hard

   How was the singular noun 'pea' derived from the mass noun 'pease'?

   Answer: Back-formation

   Why: Because listeners heard the /s/ in pease as a plural ending, they removed it to coin the singular pea.