Practice and Improve Your Grammar part 1

Nouns: countable and uncountable

Exercise 22. Write the numbers of appropriate examples in the spaces.

Countable nouns

Countable nouns can be singular or plural and are normally used to refer to people, creatures and objects (..) or actions and events (..), which can be thought of as separate individual things.

1 actor, bird, car, child, dog, ladder, man, monkey, mountain, telephone,

etc.

2 arrival, crash, goal, lesson, mistake, party, punch, problem, riot, theft, etc.

Uncountable nouns

Uncountable nouns are used with singular verbs, but not to refer to individual things. They are not typically used with a/an. We use uncountable nouns to talk about substances and materials (..), abstract ideas, qualities and states (..), or activities (..).

3camping, chess, jogging, photography, research, shopping, tennis, training, work, etc.

4anger, bravery, education, evidence, freedom, honesty, ignorance, love, poverty, safety, etc.

5alcohol, chocolate, cotton, fur, ink, meat, paint, petrol, rice, salt, shampoo, soil, wool, etc.

There are some uncountable nouns in English such as advice or information which may have countable equivalents in other languages.

6advice, applause, assistance, cash, equipment, evidence, furniture, health, homework, information, laughter, leisure, luck, machinery, money, permission, pollution, progress, rubbish, traffic, violence, etc. (NOT an advice, a homework, equipments, informations)

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Countable and uncountable uses

Some nouns can be countable or uncountable. It depends whether we're using the noun to refer to a single thing (..) or to a substance or general idea (..).

7She owns a business. • I saw a chicken. • There's a hair in my tea. • Did you hear a noise?

8Business is booming. • Do you eat chicken? • He has long hair. • There s too much noise.

We can also use nouns such as piece or drop in phrases which are countable (..) when we want to talk about separate units or parts of nouns which are uncountable (..).

9Nobody likes having to move furniture. • She had blood on her sleeve. (NOT She had a blood on her sleeve.)

10There wasn't a piece of furniture left in the house. • I could see drops of blood on the floor.

Others like this include: an act of bravery, a bit of cheese, a bottle of water, a carton of milk, a chunk of concrete, items of information, sheets of paper, two slices of bread (NOT two breads).

Exercise 23. Using a dictionary if necessary, complete each definition with one set of nouns (not necessarily in this order) and a/an or no article.

bread / piece / soup / toast breakfast / cereal /fruit / milk / mixture / nuts country / government / system

Democracy is …a system… of (l) … in which everyone in (2) … can

vote.

A crouton is (3) … small square … of (4) … or (5) … fried …, usually served with (6) … .

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Muesli is (7) … of (8) …, (9) …, and (10) … dried …, usually eaten with (11) … at (12) … .

Exercise 24. Using a dictionary if necessary, complete each description with one set of nouns and a/an or no article (-).

food / oats / water	flour / fruit / sauce
dish / meet / pot	cabbage / mayonnaise / salad

A Coleslaw is a kind of (1) ….. made with finely chopped pieces of (2)

….., carrot and/or onion, mixed with (3) ….. .

ВCustard is (4) ….. sweet yellow ….. made from milk, sugar, eggs and

(5) ….., usually served hot with (6) ….. cooked ….. or cake.

С Porridge is a type of (7) ….. soft white ….. made by boiling (8) ….. in

(9) ….. or milk, usually eaten for breakfast.

D Stew is (10) ….. of (11) ….. and vegetables that have been cooked slowly together in (12) ….. large ….. .

Exercise 25. Complete these sentences with a/an or no article (-).

1We are looking for someone with ….. experience in ….. education who has had ….. special training in computer graphics.

2Mr Reynolds owns ….. business that recycles ….. glass and ….. plastic.

3Everyone agrees that you have to have ….. good luck to succeed, but people who are really successful usually also have ….. energy and ….. personal goal.

4One parent expressed ….. anger that ….. issue like school uniforms was being given more attention than other important things like ….. child safety.

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Exercise 26. Using a dictionary if necessary, complete the sentences with these nouns and other words.

cup drop fit flash piece (xl) pile slice

1I only have ….. tea and а couple of ….. toast in the morning.

2We felt one or two ….. rain, then suddenly there was ….. lightning.

3They left a few ….. clothing and ….. rubbish in the flat.

4In ….. jealousy she took every ….. electronic equipment she could find in his room and smashed it against the wall.

Exercise 27. Correct the ten mistakes in these sentences.

1Would you like a chicken and cheddar cheese in your sandwich?

2We were only allowed to bring a soap, a toothpaste and a toothbrush with us.

3He gave us a difficult homework so I had to dо a lot of researches in the

library.

4Too much money have already been spent on a special machinery to control pollutions.

5They have various pieces outdoor furniture made from metal and woods.

Nouns: generic, pair, group, plural and singular (+s) Generic nouns

We use nouns as generic nouns when we make general statements about any example (a/an), the general concept (the) or most examples (no article with plural) of the thing we're talking about (1) rather than real or particular examples

(2).

1An orange has lots of vitamin C. • The telephone rules my life. • Women live longer than men.

2I just ate an orange. • Cindy's new telephone is pink. • I can see about ten women and two men.

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Pair nouns

We use pair nouns such as scissors or trousers to refer to things made of two matching parts that we use or wear. We usually use them with plural verbs

(3). When we put pair nouns after the phrase a pair of we use a singular verb and a plural pronoun (them, they) (4).

3These scissors aren't very sharp. • White trousers don't go very well with black shoes.

4A good pair of scissors is hard to find. • There's a nice pair of trousers on sale. You should get them because they're really cheap. In fact, you should buy two pairs! (NOT two trousers)

Others include: binoculars, clippers, jeans, pants, pliers, pyjamas, shoes, sunglasses, tights

Group nouns

We can use group nouns to talk about a group of people as a single unit, with singular verbs and pronouns (5), or as several people, with plural verbs and pronouns (6). Group nouns are also called collective nouns.

5The public isn't really interested in what the government is doing unless it increases taxes.

6The public are more likely to complain if they have to pay more taxes.

Others include: audience, band, club, committee, family, jury, majority,

parliament, team

In American English, singular verbs are typically used after group nouns. We can use some proper nouns as group nouns, with plural verbs, for

teams and organizations.

7 England are ready to play France. • British Rail have announced new

plans.

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Plural and singular (+s) nouns

Plural nouns are words with distinct meanings that are not used in the singular.

8He said thanks for looking after his belongings. • Good manners are important.

Others include: clothes, congratulations, groceries, outskirts, remains, surroundings, troops

Plural nouns that do not end with -s include: cattle, clergy, people, police, poultry

Singular (+s) nouns are words that end in -s and appear to be plural, but are used with singular verbs when we talk about areas of study, activities and disease.

9Statistics was a difficult course. • Aerobics is hard work. • Rabies has become a deadly disease.

Others include: athletics, billiards, cards, diabetes, electronics, measles, physics, politics

We also use singular verbs after some phrases with nouns in the plural describing amounts.

10Five miles is a long walk. • Twenty pounds is too much! • Two weeks isn't enough time.

Exercise 28. Using a dictionary if necessary, choose an ending (a–f) for each beginning (1–6) and add these nouns plus is or are.

	binoculars clergy	fortnight mathematics outskirts press
1	The … of a town	a to see things far away.
2	The … a general term	b the science of numbers.
3	The … people	с	called a … in Britain.
4	… described as	d	for newspapers and journalists.
5	… used	e	the parts that are far from the centre.
6	Two weeks sometimes	f such as priests and ministers.
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Exercise 29. Choose an ending (a–e) for each beginning (1–5) and add these nouns with pair(s) of where necessary.

cards goggles groceries pliers pants

1You'll need several ….. (…)

2Yon should put on a ….. (...)

3You'll need a lot of ….. (...)

4You have to be good at ….. (...)

5You can use this ….. (...)

ato feed the whole family.

bto win at poker.

с to wear on your trip.

dto twist the wire.

eto protect your eyes.

Exercise 30. Using a dictionary if necessary, complete each sentence with is/are and one of these nouns.

environment miles	noise shades	shorts
spots squares stuff	telescopes	tenner

1Draughts ….. played on a board marked with black and white ….. .

2Your surroundings ….. everything that's around you, or your personal ….. .

3Binoculars ….. like a pair of small ….. joined together.

4One pound is a 'quid' and ten pounds ….. a '…..' in informal speech.

5Boxers ….. underpants, similar to the ….. worn by men in a boxing match.

6Eight kilometres ….. about the same as five ….. .

7Measles ….. infectious, causing small red ….. to appear all over the body.

8Your belongings ….. what you own, also known as your ….. .

9A pair of headphones ….. recommended to protect your ears from the ….. .

10Sunglasses, or ….. if you're 'cool', ….. being worn a lot more often these days and not only when it's bright and sunny.

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Exercise 31. Correct the twenty mistakes in these sentences.

1One or two of the old farms still have horses, catties an d sheep.

2Other sports are still popular, but aerobics are much more popular nоw among young women.

3My friend just got a new pair of glasses and it's really nice and light.

4Don't you think that the cats live longer than dogs or at least the majority

do?

5Diabetes have become more common in recent years because of people's eating habits.

6A woman was caught leaving the shop with two scissors and a tweezers that she hadn't paid for.

7Typical clothing for young people are a T-shirt, a blue jeans and a trainer.

8The man looked strange because his trouser was really short and he was wearing orange sock.

9Eleven players don't make team; team need eleven players playing together as one.

10Bird such as chicken, duck or geese that are kept on farms for eggs or its meat are described as poultry.

Possessive and compound nouns

Exercise 32. Write the numbers of appropriate examples in the spaces.

Possessive noun or compound noun?

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We usually use a possessive noun when something belongs to a particular person or thing (..) and a compound noun to talk about a common combination of things, not possession (..).

1Each student's office has a computer. • That red thing on a chicken's head is called 'a comb'.

2You have to take these forms to the student office. • Do you like chicken soup?

Possessive nouns

We form possessive nouns by adding an apostrophe s ('s) to most nouns, or only an apostrophe (') to nouns ending in s.

3 one man's story, Lee's birthday, children's books, girls' stories, Burns' poems.

Note that it is possible to write both Dickens' novels and Dickens's novels.

We use possessive noun phrases to express the idea of 'having' (in a very general sense) which exists between the first noun and the second noun. We usually use them when the first noun refers to people and other living things (..), groups and organizations (..), times (..) and places (..).

4London's night life, China's economic policy, Europe's currency, the world's population.

5my mother's sister, the Beatles' music, the killer's mistake, a dog's life, birds' nests.

6the company's change of plan, the committee's decision, the BBC's news programmes.

7yesterday's meeting, next week's schedule, a week's pay, Monday's news

We also use possessive nouns in personification, that is, when something

abstract is treated as if it was a person (..), or when an object is described as 'having' something (..).

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8Death's cold hand, love's passionate embrace, jealousy's dark

thoughts.

9the car's previous owner, the computer's faulty design, the newspaper's circulation.

Possessive nouns can sometimes be used without a following noun when that noun is treated as known (..), or is presented as one of a larger number rather than a particular one (..).

10It's a film of Hitchcock's. • She's a friend of Margaret's. (= one of Margaret's friends).

11She's at the doctor's. • He has Alzheimer's. • We stayed at Tom's. • It's bigger than Paul's.

We can use an of-phrase after a noun to express 'having', especially when one thing is part of another (..), when describing actions, ideas or processes (..), or when a long phrase is used for the possessor (..).

12the development of industry, the concerns of students, the withdrawal of NATO forces.

13the arm of the chair, pages of a book, the roof of the building, the cost of repairs.

14What was the name of that girl in Amsterdam? • He's the son of the woman we met in Bonn.

Compound nouns

Compound nouns consist of two (or more) words used to refer to people or things more specifically in terms of what they are for (..), what they are made of (..), what work they do (..), what kind they are (..), or where and when they happen or are used (..). Hyphens are sometimes used in compound nouns (..).

15 bus driver, car mechanic, history teacher, production manager, airline safety inspector.

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