Ellipsis & Substitution Dictation: One and Ones for Nouns

Listen for the noun named first, then hear what one or ones refers back to. One stands for a single countable thing; ones stands for more than one. A description such as softer, dry or another helps you follow which item the speaker means. These substitute words are not numbers, so write one as a word rather than 1. Keep any -s on ones and the words around it. You understand the earlier noun, but you do not need to repeat it in the shortened phrase.