miércoles, 7 de septiembre de 2011

Are you ready to practise?

Activity 1

Decide if the nouns are countable or uncountable. Write down the singular form in each case and add the plural form if the noun is countable.
NOUNS
COUNTABLE
UNCOUNTABLE
SINGULAR FORM
PLURAL FORM
weather
X
weather
-------
architecture




people




shops




nightlife




parks




restaurant






Activity 2

Arrange these singular and plural nouns into the lists below. Then add two more countable nouns to each list.

            an apple           beans               carrots             potatoes           spoons             bananas
                    knife                a glass              fork                 plates               a strawberry

Fruit                           Vegetables                            Tableware

an apple                      .........................                      .........................
.........................          .........................                      .........................
.........................          .........................                      .........................
.........................          .........................                      .........................
.........................          .........................                      .........................

Arrange these nouns into the lists below. The add two more uncountable nouns to each list.

      beef                 yogurt              cream              orange juice                 coffee              rice
                water               bread               pasta                chicken                        flour

Drinks                        Meat                            Grain and                   Milk products
                                                                     grain products

.........................          .........................          .........................             .........................
.........................          .........................          .........................             .........................
.........................          .........................          .........................             .........................
.........................          .........................          .........................             .........................

Watch, learn and practise!

Learning with food!




What other ways of cooking do you know? Can you provide examples?

Quantifiers

These are ways you can talk about quantity if you can’t or don’t want to use exact number.

With countable nouns: (only) a few/(far) too many/How many…?
There were only a few people who saw them.
How many e-mails do you get every day?

With uncountable nouns: (only) a little/(far) too much/How much…?
There’s a little wine left but no beer.
How much sleep do you get at night?

With countable and uncountable nouns: a lot of/lots of/not enough
There are a lot of problems with this plan.
There was lots of good food at the party.
He didn’t give me enough information.

What are countable and uncountable nouns?

Countable nouns.
These refer to things which can be counted. You use them with a/an or put a number in front of them. You usually form the plural by adding –s, -es, -ies.
a car – 500 cars
a church – 3 churches
a country – 12 countries

Note: A few common countable nouns have irregular plural forms.
a child – two children                        a person – two people
a foot – two feet                                a tooth – two teeth
a man – two men                               a woman – two women
a mouse – two mice

Uncountable nouns.
These refer to things which cannot be counted. You cannot use a/an or put a number in front of them.
advice               food               furniture               information               love
music               rain               traffic               travel               weather               work