Nouns / Articles | Countable - Uncountable Nouns Nouns can be countable (those that can be counted) / egy, 2 eggs etc or uncountable (those that can't be : ‘counted) brea, wood! etc. Uncountable nouns take a singular verb and are not used with a/an. Some, any, ‘no, much etc can be used with them. Luggage is obtained from the Luggage Reclaim Area, Can | have som bread, please? BUT a rele, a pity, a shame, a wonder, a knowledge (of sth) a help. Wa! a relief! What a pity! : What a shame! ‘ ‘Uncountabie nouns are: @ Mass nouns (fuids, solids, gases, particles): beer, blood. bread), buttor air oxygen, com, flour et : © Subjects of study; history, IRerature, maths, physics, accountancy, chemistry, economics etc s © Languages: Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, Chinese etc Games: baseball, billards, footbal, got, darts, rugby, cricket, cycling etc Diseases: fu, proumonia, measles, mumps, chickenpox, tuberculosis etc Natural phenomena: darkness, fog, gravity, hail, snow, sunlight, shade ete ‘ © Some nouns: accommodation, advice, anger, applause, assistance, behaviour, business, chaos, countyside, courage, dint, education, evidence, homework, housework, information, nteligence, knowledge, luck, music, ‘news, peace, progress, seaside, shopping, traffic, trouble, uth, wealth, work ett 7 © Collective nouns: baggage, crockery, cutlay, furniture, jeweller, luggage; machinery, money, rubbish, : stationery etc Note: With expressions of duration, distance or money meaning “a whole amount” we use a singular verb. Two months was too fong to spend in hospital. ‘Many uncountable nouns can be made countable. 4 piece of papericakelinformation/advice/fumiture; a glass/bottle of wateribeerlwine; @ jar of jam: a rasher of bacon; a pint of beer; a box/sheet of paper; a packet of tea; a slice[loaf of bread; a pot of yoghurt; @ pot/cup of 7 tea; a kilojpound of meat; a tube of toothpaste; a bar of chocolate|soap; a bit/piece of chalk; an ice cube: a : Jump of sugar, a bag of flour; a pair of trousers; a game of soccer; a(n) itemipiece of news; a droplean of ol: a ‘can of Coke; a carton of milk; a block of wood: a flashibolt of lightning; a elap|peal of thunder etc - CF Plural Nouns © objects consisting of two parts: garments (rousers, pyjamas etc), instruments (binoculars, compasses eto), tools (scissors, pliers otc) * @ arms, ashes, barracks, clothes, congratulations, earnings, (good) looks, outskits, people, police, premises, : riches, stairs, surroundings, wages etc. Tie police are looking or the bank robbers Group nouns (army, audience, class, club, committee, company, council, crew, crowd, headquarters, family, jury, government, press, public, staff, team etc) can take elther a singular or a plural verb depending on whether we see the group as a whole or as individuals. the staf as a group) The staff were given a borus at Christmas. (each member ofthe staff separately as individuals) The staff Is required to fil out a medical form. Note how certain nouns can be used in the singular and plural with a different meaning. ae Plural Give me a glass of water, please, {Ive been wearing glasses since I was 8 years old. Has she always had short hair? There are so many hairs in the sink! How would you rate this on a scale of 1 to 10? Can you put that fish on the seales for me please? In Japan itis not @ custom to kiss your fiends. Our bags were thoroughly searched at customs. Have you got any lined paper | could use? He showed his papers to the customs officer. ‘She's wearing a ring made of wood. John loves his Sunday aftemoon walk in the woods. ‘can't talk now; | have a fot of work to do. A lot of Dali's works are on display in this museum. We had at least 200 people at our wedding. The peoples of Europe are hoping for change. The rain is faling really heavily now. The villagers are hoping for the rains to come soon. You need experience for ths job. ' had a fot of interesting experiences visiting Asia. We used a compass to find our direction. Use your compasses fo draw some circles. us|Nouns / Articles [B_Unaertine the correct verb form. Scorvousens worvansuns Mathematics is/are my favourite subject. 1" Wood come/comes from trees. 12 ‘The news was/were interesting this evening, 13 Her advice was/were useful 4 Your furniture Is/are so tasteful. 6 Tennis is/are a game played by 20r4 people. 16 Butter contain/contains a lot of fat 7 The scissors cut/cuts really well 8 Your hair is/are so shiny. 19 Japanese is/are difficult to learn. 20 Write the correct form of the verbs Most people is/are worried about the future. Children usually lke/likes sweet things. This company has/have six branches. That jewellery really suit/suits you. Water is/are necessary for survival. My luggage was/were lost by the airline, Measles is/are infectious, This machinery is/are very noisy. £300 Is/are too much to spend on that dress. Your scales is/are not very accurate. Hardwork ..i2.. (be) the key to success. 20 Yeats wronvnnnn (08) & lng time to spend in prison for thef. ‘The staircase (be) to0 steep for my grandmother to climb, Cathay Pacific (be) an Asian airline. | ‘The people of Africa Flu (make) you feel miserable. Aloaf of bread (cost) more now than it did ten years ago. think olive oil {add) a lot of flavour to cooking, ‘The committee (meet) every Wednesday inthe boardroom. Its said that lightning never vn (Strike) in the same place twice. My favourite pyjamas (be) the ones with red and white stripes. All the members of staf... ‘Some people think French sme (Believe) in various religions. (get) together in the staff room. (sound) so romantic. eee There (be) too much sugar in my tea Physics (involve) a lt of theoretical study. Gravity... (pull) things towards the centre of the Earth. {Good 10okS wn (08) all ou néed to be a model ‘crew of over five people (work) in most commercial aeroplanes. Decorating a house (be) a lt of trouble. Your trousers (go) nicely with this blue top. [Ei_ Finish the sentences without changing the meaning of the first sentence. ‘She has got scruffy hair. Her hai ..is scruffy. ‘You need some teaching experience before we employ you. Some He was given some very useful information. Some He bought a new sult for the wedding. A new suit... ‘An alarm protects this shop from burglaries. This shop People use sand to make glass. Sand like playing darts more than any other game, Darts, Nowadays men and woren wear trousers. Trousers nn You are not allowed to park here. Parking w.r.n You need binoculars to see that far. Binoculars .... Models always wear smart clothes. Smart clothes This greengrocer's always has fresh vegetables. The vegetables .. ‘The government is passing new laws. New laws ... Hound physics very dificult at school. Physics ‘The man found the advice very useful. The advice