rod (<3) Countable and uncountable nouns (2) ‘Many nouns can be used as countable or uncountable nouns, usually with a difference in meaning. Compare: Countable © Did you hear a noise just now? (=. particular noise) © I bought a paper to read. (= a newspaper) © There’s a hair in my soup! (= one single hair) ‘© You can stay with us. There isa spare room. (= 4 room in a house) ‘© Thad some interesting experiences while Iwas away. (= things that happened to me) # Enjoy your holiday. Have a good time! Uncountable © can't work here. There's too much noise. (not ‘too many noises’) ‘need some paper to write on. (= material for writing on) © You've got very long hair. (not *hairs') (all the hair on your head) You can’ sit here. There isn't room. (= space) ‘© ‘They offered me the job because I had a lot of experience. ntot ‘experiences’) © can’t wait. I haven’t got time. ‘© I don’t drink coffee very often. languages. For example: ‘accommodation behaviour damage advice bread furniture baggage chaos information These nouns are usually uncountable, so: ‘© I'm going to buy some bread. or © Enjoy your holid: ‘News is uncountable, not plural: Coffee/tea/beer/iuice etc. (drinks) are normally uncountable: But they can be countable when you are thinking of a cup / a glass etc. So you can say: © (ina restaurant) Two coffees and an orange juice, please. There are some nouns that are usually uncountable in English but often countable in other luck permission traffic Tuggage progress. weather news scenery work: i) you cannot use a/an with them (you cannot say ‘a bread!, ‘an advice’ etc.) and ii) they are not normally plural (we do not say ‘breads’, ‘advices! etc.) ‘ua loaf of bread. (vot ‘a bread!) 1 [hope you have good weather. (not ‘a good weather’) ‘© Where are you going to put all your furniture? (not “furnitures') © The news was very depressing, (not ‘the news were’) Travel (noun) means ‘travelling in general’. You cannot say ‘a travel’ to mean a journey or a trip: ‘© We had a very good journey. (not ‘a good travel’) ‘Compare these countable and uncountable nouns: Countable © T'm looking for a job. © What a beautiful view! © It’s a nice day today. © We had a lot of bags and cases. © ‘These chairs are mine. © Irwas a good suggestion. Uncountable © Tm looking for work. (not ‘a work’) © What beautiful scenery! © It's nice weather today. © We had a lot of luggage. (not ‘Iuggages’) © This furniture is mine. @ twas good advice. Countable and uncountable (1)unr 1 Which of the underlined parts of these sentences is correct? 1 "Did you hear noise /a noise just now?” ‘No, I didn’t hear anything.” ('a noise’ is correct) 2 a If you want to know the news, you can read paper /a paper. b I want to write some levters but I haven't got apaper/any paper to write on, 3 a Ithought there was somebody in the house because there was light /a light on inside. b Light /A light comes from the sun. 4 a Iwas in a hurry this morning. I didn’t have time/a time for breakfast. b ‘Did you enjoy your holiday?” ‘Yes, we had wonderful rime /a wonderful time.” 5 Sue was very helpful. She gave us some very useful advice / advices. 6 We had very good weather /a very good weather while we were on holiday. 7 We were very unfortunate. We had bad luck / a bad luck. 8 It’s very difficult to find a work/ job at the moment. 9 Our iravel/ journey from London to Istanbul by train was very tiring. 10 When the fire alarm rang, there was total chaos / a total chaos. 11 Thad to buy a./some bread because I wanted to make some sandwiches. 12 Bad news don’t/ doesn’t make people happy. 13 Your hair is / Your hairs are too long. You should have it/ them cut. 14 Nobody was hurtin the accident but she damage /the damages to the car was / were quit bad. €8.2 Complete the sentences using these words, Sometimes you need the plural (-s) chair experience experience furniture hair information job feggege permission progress. work 1 I didn’t have much ..\uaaage... - just two small bags. 2 They'll tell you all you want to know. They'l give you plenty of 3 There is room for everybody to sit down. There are plenty of 4 We have 10 snot even a bed or a table. 5 ‘What does Alan look like?" * He's got a long beard and very short... 6 Carla's English is better than it was. She's made... 7 George is unemployed. He’s looking f0r & ooo... nnn 8 George is unemployed. He's looking for... i 9 Ifyou want to leave work early, you have to a8k £0F sn. 10 Idon'r think Ann will ger the job. She hasn't got enough : 11 Rita has done many interesting things. She should write @ Book about het... €8.3 What do you say in these situations? Complete the sentences using one of the words from Section C. 1. Your friends have just arrived at the station. You can’t see any suitcases or bags. You ask them: Have ..you.got.any luggage? 2 You go into the tourist office. You want to know about places to see in the town. You say: Pd like “ - 3 You are a student at school. You want your teacher to advise you about which examinations totake, You say: Can you give me wu. > 4 You want to watch the news on TV but you don't know what time it is on. You ask your friend: | What time . 5 You are standing at the top of a mountain. You can see a very long way. Its lovely. You say: It vg ist it? 6 You look out of the window. The weather is horrible: cold, wet and windy. You say to your friend: | What seistecsenecait ! >Countable nouns with a/an and some Countable nouns can be singular or plural: adog —achild the evening this party an umbrella dogs some children the evenings these parties two umbrellas Before singular countable nouns you can use aan: Goodbye! Have a nice evening. © Do youneed an umbrella? ‘You cannot use singular countable nouns alone (without a/the/my etc.): © She never wears a hat. (not ‘She never wears hat’) Be careful of the dog. (not ‘Be careful of dos’) © What a beautiful day! © T've got a headache. We use a/an... to say what kind of thing or person something/somebody is: © A dog is an animal. © I'm an optimist. © Tim's father is a doctor. © Are you a good driver? © Tillis a really nice person. © What a lovely dress! We say that somebody has a long nose / a nice face / a strong heart etc.: © Jack has got a long nose. (not ‘the long nose’) In sentences like these, we use plural nouns alone (not with ‘som © Dogs are animals, © Most of my friends are students. ills parents are really nice people. © What awful shoes! @ Jack has gor blue eyes. not “the blue eyes’) Remember to use a/an when you say what somebody's job is: Sandra is a nurse. (not ‘Sandra is nurse’) © Would you like to be an English teacher? You can use some with plural countable nouns, We use some in two ways: {) Some = a number of /a few of a pair of: ‘ T've seen some good films recently. (not ‘T've seen good films’) © Some friends of mine are coming to stay at the weekend. @ [need some new sunglasses. (= a new pair of sunglasses) Do not use some when you are talking about things in general (see also Unit 74): © Llove bananas. (not ‘some bananas’) © My auntis a writer. She writes books. (not ‘some books’) Sometimes you can make sentences with or without some (with no difference in meaning): ‘© There are (some) eggs in the fridge if you're hungry. ii) Some = some but not all ‘© Some children learn very quickly. (but not all children) © Some police officers in Britain carry guns, but most of th ts countable and uncountabie(1) + EEE] ‘an andthe + EEIEIN some! ny >70.4 EXERCISES What are these things? Try and find out if you don't know. 1 an ant? .. ean ineect, 7 Barth? Mars? Venus? shia 2 ants? bees? ...hey're Insect, 3 acauliflower? 4 chess? 5 a violin? a trumpet? a flute? 9 the Rhine? the Nile? the Miss ssp? 10a pigeon? an saa? scrow? 6 askyscraper? .... Who were these people? 11 Beethoven? aeeeeee 15 Marilyn Monroe? 12 Shakespeare? .. suuunenn 16 Elvis Presley? John Lennon? 13 Albert Einstein? ... ssa Ss wi 4 Washingron? Lincoln? John Kennedy? 17 Van Gogh? Renoir? Gauguin? rv 2188 faowAzel judmsp eL0z vag in s1 Py 2380) Aaoykzel iudmsa e10z Vv4aLA~ at ST Read about what these people do and say what their jobs are. Choose one of these jobs: driving instructor interpreter journalist © aurse pilot plumber travel agent waiter 1 Stella looks after patients in hospi |. She's a nur. 2 George works in a estaurant. He bring the fod ro the rable, He ag 3. Mary arranges people’s holidays for them. She... ey 4 Ron works for an airline, He flies aeroplanes. 5. Linda teaches people how to drive. é ge 6 Dave fits and repairs water pipes. 33 7 Jenny writes articles for a newspaper. 8 John translates what people are saying from one ange i into another, ‘so that they can <1 understand each other. so ARR Put in alan or some where necessary. If no word is necessary, leave the space empty (-). 8 2 1 T've seen ..eme... good films recently. 8 2 What's wrong with you? Have you got..@.. headache? 3 g | 3. know a lot of people. Most of them are ...-... students. i | 4 When Iwas... child, Tused to be very shy. se! 5 Would you like to ne ACROE? oe a 6 Do you collect stamps? 62 T What ..oouumn beautiful garden! 3 8 birds, for example the penguin, cannot fly. 2 9 I've been walking for three hours. I’ve got... sore feet. | 10 I don't feel very well this morning. I've got sore throat. 38 11 It's pity we haven't got... camera, I'd like to take photograph of that i a house. . 12 Those are __ nice shoes. Where did you get them? E a 13 I'm going shopping. I want to buy... new shoes. 14 Youneed ‘visa t0 visit... countries, but not all of them, a 15 Janes. teacher. Her parents were “teachers t00. é 16 Do you enjoy going to ‘concerts? 17 When we got to the city c2ntte, ...-...» Shops were still open but most of them were closed. 18 Idon’t believe him. He's liar. He’s always telling lies. >67.2 1 iawn 3 The man slipped gerting off a bus. 4 I got wet walking home in the rain. 1 Mie tater eerie ne iaareeat wv Fgh enn ane EEE ee ao EDC anne igeantgiis F foey endear Besercth ier teenie ee oar eerie ts se eer « aerated SUNT ae sae 1p mararares, mr UNIT ee. 3 ney le resace 3 5 Stoothbrosh & abank 2 aninsurance company & 3 fe 10 ea wasn 11 aproblem 12 aninterview fora job 13 necklace 14 a very good game 8 aleter 9 blood 10 a question 11 a moment 12 adecson 8 aie 9 patience 10 languages 41 eouneres 12 Space ba wonderful sime 5 advice 5 very good weather 7 bad luck 8 9 7 job 8 work 1 Permision experience 11 experiences 69.3 2 Fd lke some information about places to see (in his tow) 3 Can you give me some advice about which examinations to take? 1 ..some advice about examinations? “4. What time isthe news (on TV}? 5 Iese beau view, ir? or Its beautiful scenery, isn’t it? 6 What horrible weather! UNIT 70 70.4 3 Isa vegetable, 4 sa game. § Pho mca ioarumenrs 6 lesa (cllhigh) building 7 They're planets, Keston, re rivers, 10, They'e birds, 12 He was awrier/ dramatist / laywright. 13 He was a scientist’ physicist. 14 They were American presidents / presidents of the United States, 415 She was an actress /a film actress /a film sar, 16 They were singersimusicians. 17 They were paintersartiss, 70.2 2 Hea waite. travel agent, 4 Reve pioe 4 5 § = (collect stamps) Ta 8 Some 9 = (ve got sore feet.) 108 (Those are nie shoes) some 14 a visa... some counties 45 a teacher, Her parents were teachers too. . i i F UNIT 71 i -and a magazine. The newspaper * pithy bar Doom emer 5 stele = ‘crashed into g tree. The driver ‘of the car wasn’t hurt but the car el aaermn Stan bite on Belongs ty 3 Seer | ‘owner of she grey one is. 4 My fends ive an old house in small village. There isa beautiful garden behind the house, I would Ike to have a garden like that. 1.2 | i RES RE 71.3 the dentise the door a mistake the bu ation por ofice the book 10 ajob in bank