Which sentence correctly hyphenates a numeral-unit compound adjective before a noun?
"The rollout introduced a 5-minute delay in message delivery" is correct: when a number + unit phrase premodifies a noun ("delay"), the unit stays singular and the whole phrase is hyphenated ("5-minute"). Option B incorrectly pluralizes the unit inside the compound adjective. Option C is missing the required hyphen. Option D incorrectly pluralizes "minutes" even though it uses the spelled-out numeral form.
2 / 17
Choose the sentence that correctly uses the plural, unhyphenated form when the number + unit phrase is not modifying a following noun.
"The retry logic waits 5 minutes before the next attempt" is correct: here "5 minutes" is a standalone duration, not premodifying a noun, so it stays plural with no hyphen. Option B incorrectly hyphenates a phrase that isn't functioning as a compound adjective. Option C incorrectly adds the article "a" before a plural-context duration with no following noun. Option D incorrectly keeps the singular hyphenated form without a noun to modify.
3 / 17
Which sentence correctly applies the same rule to a second example, "3-second timeout"?
"The client is configured with a 3-second timeout for health checks" is correct: the compound adjective before the noun "timeout" keeps the unit singular and hyphenated. Option B incorrectly pluralizes "seconds" inside the compound adjective. Option C is missing the required hyphen between the number and unit. Option D incorrectly pluralizes the unit even with the spelled-out numeral.
4 / 17
Select the sentence that correctly handles a numeral-unit compound adjective combined with another adjective before the noun.
"We observed a 200-millisecond increase in average response time" is correct: "200-millisecond" is hyphenated as a compound adjective modifying "increase", with the unit kept singular, and no extra hyphen is needed before the noun itself. Option B incorrectly pluralizes "milliseconds". Option C is missing the required hyphen in the compound adjective. Option D incorrectly over-hyphenates by also joining the noun "increase" into the compound, which is not standard.
5 / 17
Which sentence correctly uses the plural form after switching the numeral-unit phrase from premodifier to standalone measurement, in a benchmark report?
"The p99 latency dropped from a 300-millisecond baseline to about 120 milliseconds" is correct: the premodifying compound adjective "300-millisecond" (before "baseline") keeps the unit singular and hyphenated, while the standalone measurement "120 milliseconds" at the end correctly uses the plural, unhyphenated form since it modifies nothing. Option B incorrectly pluralizes the compound adjective and singularizes the standalone measurement — the reverse of the rule. Option C is missing the required hyphen in the compound adjective and incorrectly singularizes the standalone measurement. Option D correctly hyphenates the compound adjective but incorrectly singularizes the standalone measurement at the end.
6 / 17
John reported a 2-minute latency spike during the database query. Which of the following Slack messages best reflects his concern?
The key here is accurately conveying the numeral-unit compound adjective. '2-minute latency' needs to be hyphenated as a single unit modifying 'latency.' Option A is incorrect because it doesn't use the full phrase; option C misrepresents the situation and ignores the hyphenation rule. Option D uses the phrase correctly but suggests an immediate, potentially unnecessary, reaction.
7 / 17
Sarah is writing a pull request description for a code change that reduces image processing time. Which sentence demonstrates the correct use of numeral-unit compound adjectives?
'10-millisecond' is correctly hyphenated as a compound adjective modifying 'processing time.' Option B is grammatically correct but doesn't use the hyphenated form. Option C uses the phrase incorrectly without hyphenation and option D mixes the units inappropriately, suggesting a percentage change rather than an absolute reduction.
8 / 17
John reported a 2-minute latency spike during the database query. Which of the following Slack messages best reflects his concern?
The key here is accurately conveying the numeral-unit compound adjective. '2-minute latency' needs to be hyphenated as a single unit modifying 'latency.' Option A is incorrect because it doesn't use the full phrase; option C misrepresents the situation and ignores the hyphenation rule. Option D uses the phrase correctly but suggests an immediate, potentially unnecessary, reaction.
9 / 17
Sarah is writing a pull request description for a code change that reduces image processing time. Which sentence demonstrates the correct use of numeral-unit compound adjectives?
'10-millisecond' is correctly hyphenated as a compound adjective modifying 'processing time.' Option B is grammatically correct but doesn't use the hyphenated form. Option C uses the phrase incorrectly without hyphenation and option D mixes the units inappropriately, suggesting a percentage change rather than an absolute reduction.
10 / 17
John reported a 2-minute latency spike during the database query. Which of the following Slack messages best reflects his concern?
The key here is accurately conveying the numeral-unit compound adjective. '2-minute latency' needs to be hyphenated as a single unit modifying 'latency.' Option A is incorrect because it doesn't use the full phrase; option C misrepresents the situation and ignores the hyphenation rule. Option D uses the phrase correctly but suggests an immediate, potentially unnecessary, reaction.
11 / 17
Sarah is writing a pull request description for a code change that reduces image processing time. Which sentence demonstrates the correct use of numeral-unit compound adjectives?
'10-millisecond' is correctly hyphenated as a compound adjective modifying 'processing time.' Option B is grammatically correct but doesn't use the hyphenated form. Option C uses the phrase incorrectly without hyphenation and option D mixes the units inappropriately, suggesting a percentage change rather than an absolute reduction.
12 / 17
During a code review, Alex comments: 'The server response time is currently 15-millisecond. This needs investigation.' Which of the following options best reflects Alex's statement regarding this technical detail?
The key here is understanding that '15-millisecond' describes the *unit* of measurement (milliseconds) combined with the number. The correct option acknowledges that 15 milliseconds is a reasonable value for latency, demonstrating appropriate technical vocabulary. Options A and B misinterpret the meaning by focusing on whether the response time is 'high' or 'within acceptable limits,' missing the core grammatical point about hyphenated compound adjectives.
13 / 17
Maria is drafting a Slack message to report an issue. She writes: 'We saw a 50-kilobyte increase in log file size after the deployment.' Which of the following sentences best completes her message?
Maria's original sentence correctly uses the numeral-unit compound adjective to describe *what* changed (log file size). The correct completion clarifies that this was a spike – an increase – and relates it directly back to the original phrase. Options A, B, and C all misinterpret the meaning of '50-kilobyte' as referring to memory leaks or resource consumption, failing to recognize its role in describing the log file size change.
14 / 17
Sarah is writing a report on network performance. She states: 'The average packet loss rate was 0.5-percent.' Which of the following sentences best exemplifies this statement?
This question tests understanding of representing a percentage with a numeral-unit compound adjective. '0.5-percent' indicates that packet loss was measured at 0.5 percent. Options A and B misinterpret this as an outage or improvement, while option D suggests a reduction achieved during testing which isn't directly stated by the original phrase.
15 / 17
Mark is reviewing a pull request that includes a new function. He writes in the comments: 'The API call took approximately 128-byte packets to transmit.' Which of the following options correctly represents Mark's observation?
Option A is the most accurate. 'Approximately' and 'roughly' are appropriate intensifiers for numeral-unit compound adjectives when describing quantities. Options B and C misinterpret the usage of 'approximately', while option D suggests a need for action that isn't necessarily implied by the phrase itself. Using 'approximately' correctly emphasizes the estimation.
16 / 17
During a standup meeting, David says: 'The server processed the request in 35-millisecond.' Which of the following best reflects David's statement when reporting to his team?
Option 1 accurately reflects David's statement. 'Within' is the correct preposition to use with numeral-unit compound adjectives when indicating a time duration. Options 2 and 3 incorrectly rephrase the phrase, while option 4 uses the singular form of 'millisecond,' which is incorrect.
17 / 17
Maria needs to describe the duration of a process in a Slack message. She writes: 'The build took approximately 20-minute durations.' Which option best completes her message?
The key here is understanding the function of the numeral-unit phrase as an adjective modifying 'durations'. Option 1 accurately reflects that the entire build process took approximately 20 minutes. Options 2 and 3 suggest a problem without fully explaining the context, while option 4 introduces irrelevant details about CI/CD pipelines.
What will I practise in "Numeral-Unit Compound Adjectives in Technical English — IT Grammar Exercise"?
Practise hyphenating and singularizing numeral-unit compound adjectives ("a 5-minute delay") versus plural standalone durations ("waits 5 minutes") in
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