Choosing singular or plural in the IELTS listening test

by Mani - Money13
(Sydney)

Hi, I need your help to understand below points, request you to help for this.

Listening Question Type-

Ques: If I am not sure about singular or plural of word what Speaker said during conversation, in that scenarios can I write the answer like this e.g. correct answer is 'applications' but since I was not sure I have given answer like this 'application(s)'

Is above answer is correct one or not? one of my friend told me either you can write 'application' or 'applications' but you can't write like this 'application(s)' this way of writing is not accepted in IELTS exams.

Ques: Can I use '/' sign for alternate answers in my Answer sheet for listening test e.g. Speaker says hotel name LondonArms but since I was not sure whether London Arms are two different words or single word. I gave answer like this 'London Arms/ LondanArms'

Is the above way of answering is correct?

Or If I am not sure about spelling of any word, can I give answer like this 'occurrance/occurrence'

In what condition I can use '/' sign in my answer.

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Jan 18, 2013
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Singular or plural in the IELTS listening test.
by: IELTS buddy

Hi,

1) The rule is basically that your answer needs to be grammatically correct and you can only have one answer.

So no, you could not put a ‘/’ and singular or plural in the hope that one is correct. Your friend is right that you must choose one or the other. If you choose the wrong one then your answer is incorrect.

2) Again, you can’t use the ‘/’ sign and put two answers.

Basically in the listening test you need to put down what you believe is the correct answer. You can’t have two possible choices.

Thanks and good luck

Apr 03, 2014
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plural
by: Anonymous

Hi,

Can I use car(s) if I'm not sure, whether the correct answer is singular or plural.

Apr 06, 2014
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Choosing singular or plural in the IELTS listening test
by: IELTS buddy

Hi,

No, you can't do that. That is like having two guesses.

You must get the correct answer.

Nov 30, 2014
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helpful tips about plural words in ielts listening
by: Anonymous

Hello. ..i am preparing for my ielts test and I am confused in singular and plural in listening. ..can you please give me some tips to improve it

Nov 30, 2014
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helpful tips about plural words in ielts listening
by: IELTS buddy

Hi,

If you mean things such as not hearing if there is an 's' on the word or not, you can really only use the context of the listening situation to help you (are they likely to be talking about plural or singular things) or the grammar - does singular or plural fit? Often only one will grammatically.

Apart from that it is just a matter of listening to as much English as you can to improve your listening ability.

Aug 30, 2015
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Can writing singular or plural word affect score in listening
by: Anonymous

If I write instead of tree as' 'trees', will I lose marks?

Aug 30, 2015
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Can writing singular or plural word affect score in listening
by: IELTS buddy

Yes you will lose the mark.

Jan 23, 2016
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"Earthquake" instead of "A massive earthquake". Right or wrong?
by: Anonymous

I am confused if my answer is right or not. For instance, if the correct answer is "Automatically shut down", and I fill in "shut down" as the answer which both fit the context.

Similarly, I wrote "earthquake" as an answer but the correct answer given in the booklet is "A massive earthquake".

Would it be right or wrong?

Jan 24, 2016
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"Earthquake" instead of "A massive earthquake". Right or wrong?
by: IELTS buddy

You have to go by what is in the answer key.

If something in the answer key is in brackets then it is optional whether to put it or not. So for example if is says this in the answer key:

"(automatically) shut down"

Then either of these are correct:

1) automatically shut down
2) shut down

If the answer key says:

"automatically shut down"

You must write that.

But I don't know what book you are using. It is quite possible there is a mistake in it and your answer is correct.

You need of course to watch what the instructions say - how many words you are allowed to use in your answer.

Also, it is not possible to know exactly what happens when IELTS come to mark tests - it is quite possible that they realise after that some different answer is acceptable that they didn't realise at the time. I'm sure they would then allow the mark.

To be sure to answer your question correctly I'd really need to see the actual test you are referring to to know what was said, the actual question, and the answer. Without that it is impossible to be sure.

Mar 04, 2016
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The
by: Anonymous

Hi,

I'm doing the practicing questions online and the answer keys said this '(the) City Council'
I didn't write 'The' will I get the mark or not?
Thank you in advance

Mar 05, 2016
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The
by: IELTS buddy

If something is in brackets it is optional whether you put it or not, so yes you will get the point.

Aug 21, 2016
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plural and singular
by: Anonymous

do i lose marks if i write holiday instead of holidays..and bag instead of bags

========

That depends on what the person said, if they said 'bags' you should write 'bags', but if they said 'bag' you should write 'bag'.

If a singular words is used in the audio that is what you must write, as with plurals.

IELTS buddy

Aug 23, 2016
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Singular or plural
by: Anonymous

But I have seen in Cambridge IELTS 7, They Used the same as applicant's wanted to know, like -know(s).
Please varify.

I think It is not indicating two different answer.
Thank You.

========

Sorry but I don't really understand your question.

IELTS buddy

Oct 26, 2016
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answers without the term already mentioned in the question
by: Anonymous

What about answers where the question is like: "How many words maximum you can use in the essays?"

I wrote - 4000. The answer is 4000 words. Will I be wrong if I dont write "words" as the question already has words in it. Thanks

Oct 28, 2016
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answers without the term already mentioned in the question
by: IELTS buddy

It has to fit properly in the gap.

"4000" fits properly because like you say, 'words' is already in the question, so it would be ok.

Oct 29, 2016
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fees/ fee
by: Anonymous

Would it be a difference if I answered 'hospital' instead of 'hospitals' or 'joining fee' instead of 'fees'?

======

Yes, you must get singular/plural correct.

IELTS buddy

Jan 13, 2017
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Grammar unchanged
by: MSM

if i dont use plural instead of singular and it doesn't change the grammatical meaning is it ok?

Jan 14, 2017
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Grammar unchanged
by: IELTS buddy

You must write down exactly what they say, so if what they say is in the singular, you must write singular, or plural if it is plural. Otherwise it will be wrong.

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