53 Countable and uncountable nouns 1 Most nouns have singular and plural forms: 3. Here is a list of common uncountable nouns, m1 x ve cae ere eae and some of the words we use in front of them: We call these nouns countable nouns, os ts : glass water ea because we can count them: teem One acupof fe ‘one house two dogs three men a spoonful of 4 SU8@r We can use a, some and the with countable coffee nouns: cake slice bread SINGULAR PLURAL a of brea a ah is piece toast some: ~ some houses che i the: the house the houses een luggage 2. Some nouns have only one form: Big Blcw ech Bete advice water bread _ petrol homework. golf tennis rain money We call these uncountable nouns, because we oa eae snow cannot count them We can use some with all these words. We also use grams, kilos, litres, etc. in shops: Can I have two litres of milk, please? 3 4. Some nouns can be countable or uncountable: “a Gor On Ha = 4946 UNCOUNTABLE: Tike tea. Her hair is red. Thaven’t got time. Look at this picture: rain (uncountable) cars (countable) We do not use a or one, two, three, etc. T always have sugar in my tea. before uncountable nouns, but we can use ae come onthe T'll have two teas, please. (= cups of tea) a: Weneed to buy bread and sugar. There's a hair in my tea some: Let's stop the car. We need some petrol. We had a good time. the: Look at the rain! Three sugars in my tea, please. Practice A Puta circle around the uncountable nouns below. house cat cheese car coat snow lemon (advice) clock table tea ball museum apple painting petrol news cigar teacher film rain holiday office bed pen sugar homework watch tennis doctor cinema _— luggage _— chair banana information cup coffee shoe shirt money exam hour city park toast sock nose water school bread book — jumper — cloud milk bike television PAGE 116 ARTICLES, NOUNS, PRONOUNS, ETC.B Put the correct word in the following sentences. > (slice, piece, cup) I'd like a . of coffee, please. 1. (glass, slice, spoonful) Would you like a .............. of cheese on your toast? 2 (pieces, cups, bottles) My father gave me two of advice. 3 (Slice, bottle, piece) Could you buy a .. _ of milk at the shops? 4 (spoonful, piece, cup) That was a difficult . . of homework! 5 (glass, piece, slice) Would you give me a . of water, please? 6 (Slices, cups, pieces) How many .. . of luggage do you have? T (spoonfuls, glasses, cups) I normally take three ... ... of sugar in my tea. 8 (pieces, slices, litres) I've just put forty ................ of petrol in the car. 9 (piece, slice, glass) I need a .. of information 10 (piece, kilo, slice) I'd like half a .... . of coffee, please, © Puta tick (V) if the sentence is correct, and a cross (x) if it is incorrect. > We live in a flat. The car needs a petrol. . She takes a milk in her tea. Mary likes tea; | prefer coffee. 13 Two kilos of a bread. He's got some new CDs. .. ae 14 We have two homeworks. Two glasses of water. . 15 | need some information. A table and two chairs. 16 We need some bananas. . Give me two toasts. 17 Have we got a butter? |. A snow comes in winter. 18 | like some egg for breakfast. Give me some cup of tea. . 19 | can see some young women. 10 Tim doesn't eat meat. .... 20 Can you see the moon? ... > | have some moneys. X, 11 Two coffees, please. 12 Please buy some sugar. Cert]. 4H4kY8eN= “D Putone word from the box in each gap in the following dialogues. a(x2) bottle cartons cup (x2) pieces slice (x2) some (x4) the (x4) two (x2) | > My father has .............. motorbike 1 After school | have a .. . of bread with ............ butter on it. 2 Tom has got three .. . of luggage. 3 Sue always has a ,,, ... Of coffee after lunch. 4 For this experiment we need a glass 2.2... WIN occcceecccese. Water in it 5 We want .... . coffees, please — one white and one black. 6 We must stop at a garage and put .. cece POHOL IN occas CA 7 How much is ., bottle of Coke at . Supermarket. 8 There are two ..... of milk in... fridge. 9 Cant havea .. of tea anda . of cake, please. 10. There are hairs in bath. Both are long and blond ARTICLES, NOUNS, PRONOUNS, ETC. + PAGE 11754 A, some, any, no 1 Look at these pictures: 5 posrrive We normally use some in positive sentences She took some photos. Td like some information, please. But we sometimes use any like this: apen some pens some food no food You can leave at any time. (= It doesn’t matter when you leave.) ‘Take any book. (= It doesn't matter which book you take.) 2 We use a with singular countable nouns (e.g. pen, car, friend): T bought a pen yesterday. S wen Bo zou eet smart We usually use any in negative sentences: He doesn't have a friend. I didn’t see any good films last year. (For countable and uncountable nouns, We haven't got any food. see Unit 53.) We sometimes use no, instead of not ... any: I'm sorry, there are no buses to the museum. 3. We use some or any with plural countable Re ioe ae eed eS es nouns (pens, friends, books T bought some new pens yesterday. 7 John doesn’t have any friends. Do you have any books about Africa? Questions ‘We use any in questions: Do you speak any Russian? 4 We use some or any with uncountable nouns But we use some in requests: (c.g. money, information, advice, news, Can you give me some information? music, coffee, milk, toast, bread, food, ‘water, snow): I haven't got any money. Did the teacher give you any advice? I would like some coffee, please. We also use some when we offer something: Would you like some coffee? A Put the words in brackets ( ) in the correct order to make sentences. > A:Can |help you, sir? B: Yes, please..ld like. to buy some furnit Meeseen (to buy — for my living — room. — furniture — I'd — some ~ like) 1. A; Shall we go into town this afternoon? B: Why? ... (shops open today. — any ~ There — aren't) 2A. (Can | — cheese, please? — some — have) B: Of course. How much would you like? 3A. (any — in Cambridge? — museums ~ Are there) B: | don't know. We can find out at the Tourist Information Centre. my living-room PAGE 118 * ARTICLES, NOUNS, PRONOUNS, ETC.4 A: Id like to go to Bristol, please. B: Certainly, madam. (any ~ You — train from platform 9. ~ can take) 5 A:I'd love to go to South America B: Really? (you speak ~ Spanish? — Do — any) 6 A: I'm hungry! We haver't eaten all day. Look at that wonderful restaurant! B: Wait a moment! (money - with us. - We haven't — any — brought) Make the following statements negative. Use not ... any. > We've got some photos of our holiday. Ww hh f our holiday, 1 She gave me some advice. 2 There are some good films at the cinema this week. 3. You'll find some cake in the cupboard. 4 Maria had some heavy luggage with her at the airport. 5 There are some letters for you today. 6 We saw some snow on the mountains this morning. Tom and Tina are writing a shopping list. Complete the dialogue with a, some, any of no. Tom: We haven't got (>) eggs so we need to buy (>) Tina: No, no. There are (1)... in the fridge, but there's (2)... . cheese. Tom: OK, cheese. Now, we've got (3) . fruit in the sitting room but we haven't got enough for the weekend so we need to buy (4) more. What else? Tina: We want to have (5). salad for lunch, | think. Tom: Yes, of course. So we need (6) .. lettuce. Oh, and (7)... tomatoes because there aren't (8). .. in the kitchen. Tina: We must buy (9)................ bottle of oil as well. Tom: OK, and | want to buy (10). .. Rewspaper because there's (11) football match on TV this afternoon but | don’t know what time it starts. Tina: But there are (12)... . football matches today because the weather is so bad. We can go and see (13)............... film instead. Tom: Oh, all right. Anyway, are there (14).. . More things to put on the list? Tina: No, I think that’s everything. | hope you've got (15) money because I haven't got (16) Tina: OK. Put (17), we're ready. coat on and get (18), shopping bag and ARTICLES, NOUNS, PRONOUNS, ETC. + PAGE 119