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 / 5
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 / 5
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 / 5
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 / 5
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.