5 Nouns and determiners Count and noncount nouns [SGE 5.1] Some common nouns are count (countable) nouns — like book, girl, problem; and others are noncount (mass) nouns, eg: rice, importance, The distinction is partly related to mearing, but is also very important ‘grammatically, because the usage of determiners with them is different. Exercise 46 Count and noncount nouns Count nouns must have a determiner (a, one, my, this...) inthe singular, though this is not necessary in the plural. Noncount nouns do not need a determiner. Underline all the words that without further alteration can fi sentences. If necessary, consult a good dictionary. Example: Tom is always offering advicejassistance/idea/suggestion. (idea and suggestion are count nouns, We could say: He is always offering ideas! suggestions, But not *He is always offering idea/suggestion.] into the following 1 You shouldn't judge him on one achievement/failure/progress/success. 2 It was difficult for him to find career/employment/job/work. 3 His new job is something to do with advertisement/advertising/publ marketing. Buy now ~ it’s a real bargain/saving/savings/reduction. There is a/an fortunesincome/money/ wealth to be made from computers these days. need a new clothes/clothing/suitjunderwear. Modern ammunition/arms/equipment)weapons/weaponty is sophisticated, You'll have to get a leave/pass/permission/permit to get into the factory Did you have a good experience/fortune/luck/time while you were away? One scene/scenery/view/countryside particularly stays in my mind, iy! 1 Exercise 47 Count and noncount usage | chicken = the meat from it, Sometimes there is a greater difference: a sight Complete the pairs of sentences below, using the following words, once as acount ‘and once as a noncount noun, usimess cheese dinner experience ghiss ive lic noise painting paper pleasure worry Use a good dictionary to help you if necessary. 1 10 Where can I get 4 Papen? I want to know what's happening. I also need paren to wrap up some parcels with Do yousell .. "/T mean, could you cut a pie broken window? Also I'm hoping to find when I was washing up. Shopping in this huge store is quite some of the sales staff are very young and lack know where anything is. so that I could replace to replace one [broke .. They sell everything, but 80 they don't Still, I find it to shop here. I mean I don’t exactly shop for ‘but I like the atmosphere. { shall have to come back another day and go to the art department. Tom and Molly have asked for asa wedding present. Idon’tthink they like (modern) much, soit's ‘to know what to choose, Silly, isn’t it? Choosing a picture shouldn't be a cause for Did youhear 2 Of course, there's alot... but Theard something that sounded like a bomb. They did have a terrorist bomb go off here some years ago, but they were open next day. *. fas usual.’ T've sometimes thought I'd Tike to start but it must be a nightmare these days. Oh, T must go to the food department. They sell (very special) nade from goats milk, one I can’t get in my lal grocer’. You don like ae? You don’t know what you're missing, ‘And what am I going to cook for this evening? [think something simple, because tomorrow we're going 10 organized by Bill Brown's family to celebrate his ninetieth birthday. He's led (very active) and climbed almost every mountain you can think of. But now, poor old chap, he can hardly walk. Still, th Well. I think we've just time for the restaurant. 'm going tohave - What about you? Are you going t have tea, or wll you have your favourite ‘in and tonic with " Determiners [SGE 5.3-10] i coutan not ous ae pul singed hetominestsy | a lot of goes with noncount or plural nouns: Vhey gave usa lot of advice/a lot of brochures,Exercise 48 Nouns and their determiners Underline all the words that fit the following sentences without any other alterations. If necessary, consult a good dictionary. Not a great deal of experiments/investigations/work/research has been done on this. 2 Almost every detail/explanation/information/news he gave us seemed inaccurate to me. 3 You see a lot of bad behaviour/conduct/custom/manner at football matches, 4 Does it do much damage/harm/hurvinjury? ‘5: That picture isn't of much importance/price/value/worth. 6 They have such terrible climate/storms/temperature/weather, 7 Each bap/baggage/luggage/suitcase should be labelled. 8 Neither computerfequipmentmachine/machinery is suitable. 9 There’s not enough funfjoke/joy around these days. 10 — but plenty of complaint/courage/paiience.186 charter 30 bined in one of three ways: i the Saxon genitive vsing a phrase with of asa plain sequence. Do whichever is required. The scquence may be the other way round from that given. 1, (hour, work) f must do another wv this evening. 2 (education, diploma) Recognised teachers must have either a(n) ees ov a degree, So mumeah notice; The understudy had to take ver at a... 4 (hand, rail) No «1... was provided. 5. (party, politics) 1 find it difficult to get excited about 6 doll, house) One of the Queen's ven. is on show to the public. 7. fsummer, day) It was a beauiifi BL (ovine, glass) What a pity I have broken tha 9 (ron ceiling) The ve. was crossed wil beams. 10. (today, newspaper) read something fascinating it... 11. (break, tea) Most workers insist on having a 12. (hair, breadth) He escaped by a 13, (matter, root) The ov is that he never had the slightest dis instilled into him at home. 14. (worth, money) When you go out, you like to feel that you have got YOU sven, 15. (ceiling, bedroom) I noticed yesterday that there was a big crack in my 16. (tray, fea) 1 bought her dw... for her birthday, 17. (door, death) When I wentta see hin { really shought he looked as he was at 18. (magazine, women) The sentiment in most .... is 50 eloying that men find them unreadable, 19: (year, absence) He looked very different after his . ine 20. (meeting, committee) A ..... as been called for tonsorrow after- noon. 21. (mouse, church) He's as poor asa... buthe gives hinself the vis of « Nabob. DB (colt, head) It ts not so much ‘fe as a very severe ose B, (07. fin) The Sleeping Beauly ix one of the most charming ce Tknow. 2A. (story, pirate) The soe enthralled his listeners. 25. (salt, bath) MWith all these sve 1 shall smell most exotic. 26. (service, dinner) She bought a very elegant 21, (journey, day) He fives about @ vv. front ere, 2B. (licence, television) | must get my ..... renewed. 29. (state, mind) leis very difficult to determine his us. at the time of the crime. 30. (year, time) ‘That BM. Gehirt, collar) His . thou miay'st in me beliold." was decidedly frayed. : ‘cuarrer 30 11 32 (mith, glass) He drank te ose straight off 33. (ivi end) F realy was al my ....- (0 know what 10 do, 34, (fare, prison) .... is not very appetizing. 35. (house, power) A big ew ..... has been built there, 36. (property, slum) There's stil a great deal of... in London, 31, (thought, second) He answered confidently aft : 38. (car, seat) Most wn... are adjustable nowadays. 39, (day, holiday) The boys had an extra 40. fmemory, lapre) During his recital the pianist had an unfortunate the difference between: 1. a furniture vou 2. an eve-glass “a vant of furniture ‘aghast eye 3. a good business deat 4, a shipwreck ‘a good! deal of business ie wreck of @ ship 5. Partiaunent building 6, a square foot the building of Parliament 4 foot square 8, a book-end a race-horse the end of the book 9. shipshape 10, @ paper-weight the shape of a ship the weight of paper 11, a payestay 12, a lamp standard day's pay ca standard lamp 13, plate glass M1. a boathouse a glass plate a houseboat 15, a workhouse 1G the cush-hour housework ‘an hour's rush 17, daytime 18. a sparis field 7, a horserace a day's tine Jield sports 19. «a cargo boat 20, a back seut a boat's cargo ‘seat back c, Revision of basic verbs Some of the following sentences are correet: otliers contain mistakes. Decide which are right, and correct those that are wrong. Zain sure P heard you coming in last night. He thinks going 10 dances a waste of tine, He was let 0 do what he liked, Mis e fil in the making. T knew her at Joha's pariy. do not intend that my wife knows anything abou tt. 7. Children enjoy being stng 10 sleep. 8, if your wife insists on your doing that there is no help for it 9, She prefers to say in her flat during the evenings rather than to g0 out to shows, 10. She loves me to play chess with her.halves, staff, sleeves, grief, mice, speci ~general, contents, sledgess business neseieager eye Phenonena, clothes, bases, headquarters, Japa 16 Insert the appropriate collective noun: 1. the ... of a school, business, etc.) 2. « playing cards;"3. an ss, at’a concert) acca! .7. Se" grage B.va +. of sallore in'a ships 6. a 0). of owas 4. eee Of shipas°, a ..- of peopie’in'a public’ sqcera! 92 Bt! GE wolves; i. a°1..‘of Ministerssing STEEP a ea ss of puppiogy 13 ce rok woidters) Stet og Rounds; ise a PSE’ crickceara Or FoueeHee 42 +g of Of goats; 7, a +.. of elephante; 1s oe beeaneel 19. a... of herring; 20. a... of thieves; 21.a... of \ soldiers} 22. a of keys; 23. a... of flowers; 24, a... at a football match} 25. a of sheep, 47 Instructions as above: A 1. a... of laughter; 2. 4... of wine; 3. a... of wind; 4. a’... of dirt; 5. an ... of information; 6. a of sand; 7. a’... of soap; 8. a... of paper; 9... bread; 10. a ... of furniture; lila... of mud; 12. a of chalk; 13. a of pain; 14. a... of cake; 15. a... of wood; 16. a... of milk; 17. a... of salt; 18. a... of sugar; 19. a... of beer; 20, a ... of wheat; 21. a... of work; 22. a ... of alarm; 23. a 1.1 of beef; 24. a... of rice; 25. a ... of music; 26. a 11. of thunder; 27. a. of bacon} 28. a of chocolate; 29. a... of coal; 30. a... Of grass; 31. a... of ice; 32. a 11. of nonsense. of 18 Insert the appropriate collective nouns: 1. a... of musicians; 2. a... of bishops; 3. a. of directors; 4. a ... of chickens; 5. a... of singers; 6. a... of actors; 7. a... of grouse; 8. a... of birds; 9. a ... of buffaloes; 10. a ... of savages; li. a of cubs; 12. a... of rascals; 13./a ... of locusts; 14. a +++ Of horses; 15. a... of insects; 16. a ... of horses or oxen; 17, a of lions or monkeys; 18."a'... of dancers. a9 Insert the appropriate classifiers: 1. a J, of cotton/wool; 2. a ... of flowers; of rags; 4. a... of drawers; 5. a... of trees; 6. of eggs; 7. a... of pictures; 8. a of fruit; 3a... steps; 10. a... of pearls; 11, a ... Of china/clubs/toois: 12. a... of corn; 13. a... of hay; 14. a of beads; 15. a... of furniture/rooms; 16. a... of grass 2 20 Rewrite the sentence, making the words in brackets plural. 1. The Leader of the Opposition recalled the /crisis/ of the past year. ‘The ships were unloading their /cargo/ on to the Jonacths . 3. Many people think that /parent-in-law/ are poten- tially'a nuisance. 4, Poisonous /gas/ were being discharged from the ex- haust pipes of the /bus/. 5, He arranged that his books should contain detailed Jindex).. 6. Shakespearian /hero/ are generally the victims of circumstances. 7. JA mouse/ can sometimes take the cheese without being caught in the /mousetrap/, 8, Highly-coloured /fungus/ were growing near the base of the tree. 9. He wished to place certain /memorandum/ before the committee. 10. He agreed that these were strange /phenomenon/. 11. We cannot proceed on such unlikely /hypothesis/. 12. Servicemen found guilty of desertion of duty are tried by /court martial/. 13. The new /syllabus/ will be drawn up according to different /criterion/. 14. Television and newspapers are the mass /medium/ of advertising. 15. The /thief/ broke into the shop without attracting the attention of /passer-by/. 16. Piano /solo/ will be played by John Smith. 17. The police called for /eyewitness/ to come forward and give evidence. 18. The accused man had carefully prepared what appeared to be good /alibi/. [Graver :355/ 2. Select an appropriate alternative, noting that more than one may be acceptable. 1. The Committee will insist on its/their rights. 2) The Committee wishes to reconsider its/their decision. 3. Every passenger has to carry his/their own luggage. 4. Wait.till everyone has finished before you start taking away his/their plates. 6. George asked Mary if he/she would mind choosing some flowers for his/her wife. o29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 29.5 Exercises Fill each gap with a suitable collective noun. 1 There are ‘of mosquitoes inthe forests in Scandinavia in the 2. As we looked over the side of the boat, we saw a of brightly coloured fish swimming just below the sueface. 3 There was a of youths standing on the corner; they dida’t look at all friendly. 4 You'll seea of cards on the bookshelf. Will you fetch them for me, please? 5 The government has appointed a of biologists to look into the problem. In each case, one of the examples is wrong. Which one? 1 Company is often used for: actors opera singers swimmers 2 Castis often used for people in: a play a book a film 3 Crew is often used for the staff of: an ambulance a plane _a hospital 4 Pack is often used for: cats hyenas wolves 5. Elock is often used for: sheep starlings pigs Draw a line from the left-hand column to the right-hand column joining collective words with appropriate nouns, as in the example. 1 aclump of — houses 2 arange of midges 3 a gang of fir-trees 4 a swarm of elephants 5 arow of bed-linen 6 aheap of mountains 7 aherd of schoolkids Rewrite these sentences using collective words. Don’t forget to make the verb singular where necessary. There are some tables on top of one another in the next room, There are a large number of people waiting outside. The people who work there are very well-paid. ‘A large number of shcep had escaped from a field. She gave me six identical sherry glasses. She gave me five or six beautiful roses Avene Some collective nouns are associated with words about using language. Underline any you can sce in this news text and make a note of them in your vocabulary notebook. whole host of questions prepared to listen to a string about the actions of the of wild allegations without police during the demon- any evidence. In the end, he stration. There had been a just gave a series of short barrage of complaints about answers that left everyone police violence. The Chief of dissatisfied T: jourvausrs raised a Polico replied that he was not30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 Exercises ‘March the words in the list on the left with their partner on the right. 1 astroke lightning 2 ashower. — coal 3 ananicle grass oF. 4 alump news 5 aflash rain 6 ablade clothing 7 anitem thunder 8 a rumble luck Change the uncountable nouns to countable nouns in the following sentences by using either a bit/piece of or one of the more specific words listed in B opposi Example: Could you buy me some bread, please? Could you buy me a loaf of bread, please? My mother gave me some advice which I have always remembered. Suddenly the wind almost blew him off his feet. ‘We had some terribly windy weather last winter. Would you like some more toast? He never does any work at all in the house Let’s go into the garden ~ I need some fresh air. can give you some important information about that. ‘We could see smoke hovering over the city from a long way away. 9. There is some interesting new equipment in that catalogue 10 [need to get some furniture for my flat. eVaueune Use words from C opposite to fit the clues for the puzzle below. 1 The government announced a state of after the earthquake. 2. My granny wouldn't be in such a bad state of F I now if she hadn’t smoked all her life. 3. We fell in love with the house although it ~ ~ was in a dreadful state of : O11 [TTL 4 We are still in a state of asto I who has won the election. a 5. Although this is supposed to be an - ; ; affluent society, more people are living in [ TTT astate of here now than for the last 50 years. Make up a puzzle of your own like the one above using the language practised in this unit. If possible, testa friend. Now decide who or what might be in the following states and write your own sentences using these expressions. 1 chaos 2 flux 3 confusion 4 tension (See also Unit 32 for more weather words.)66.2 66.3 66.4 66.5 Exercises ‘Try to complete the blanks in the shopping list without looking at the opposite page. of ile of coke of condensed milk of cigarettes large of matches of honey of crisps oe eeesan Try the following quiz about the words on the opposite page. 1 Which two of the containers listed would you be most likely to find holding flowers in a garden? 2. Which three are you most likely to find in a cellar? 3. Which six would you be likely to find in an offclicence (a shop which sells drink)? 4 Which five would you be most likely to see on the breakfast table? 5 Which ones does a postman carry with him? 6 Which two are often used for carrying shopping? 7 How many cigarettes would you expect to find in (a) a carton (b) a packet? Name the containers and their contents. 1 7 me (Al” se Think of three words which are often used with the following containers. Example: chopping, wastepaper, linen basket 1 box 4 ius 2 horle 5 glass 3 bag 6 pot Look in a kitchen cupboard or a supermarket. Can you name everything that you see there? You will find more useful vocabulary for this exercise in Unit 43.