Uncountable nouns

Some nouns which are countable in other languages are usually uncountable in English: accommodation, advice, anger, applause, assistance, baggage, behaviour, bread, cash, chaos, chess, china, coal, cookery, courage, crockery, cutlery, damage, dirt, education, equipment, evidence, flu, food, fruit, fun, furniture, garbage, grass, hair, happiness, harm, help, homework, hospitality, housework, information, jealousy, jewelry, knowledge, laughter, leisure, lightning, linen, luck, luggage, macaroni, machinery, mail, meat, money, moonlight, mud, music, news, nonsense, parking, patience, peel, permission, poetry, progress, rubbish, safety, scenery, seaside, soap, spaghetti, spelling, steam, strength, stuff, stupidity, sunshine, thunder, toast (= bread), traffic, transport, travel, underwear, violence, vocabulary, wealth, weather, work.

When we want to refer to specific pieces of an uncountable substance we use such word combinations as: a piece of, a slice of, etc.

a piece of advice/cake/furniture/information/paper; a glass/bottle of beer/water/wine; a 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; a pot/cup of tea; a kilo/pound of meat; a tube of toothpaste; a bar of chocolate/soap; a bit/piece of chalk; an ice cube; a lump of sugar; a bag of flour; a pair of trousers; a game of soccer; a(n) item/piece of news; a drop/can of oil; a can of Coke; a carton of milk; a block of wood; a flash/bolt of lightning; a clap/peal of thunder etc.

Exercise 5. Divide the following nouns into countable and uncountable.

Air, wool, airship, umbrella, word, aviation, assistance, speed, instrument, equipment, assistant, paper (бумага), paper (газета), hour, bread, darkness, water, sea, cheese, happiness, event, glass (стакан), glass (стекло), hero, sand, music, friend, piano, friendship, quickness, tobacco, cigarette, copper, armchair, coffee, ship, coin, university, money, ink, banknote, meat, silver, watch, timber, tree, idea, ice, furniture, chalk, heat, ball, cow, milk, butter, horse, obligation, machine, material, crocodile, freedom, window, information, fact, mouse, sky, glove, ruin, snow, copy, opportunity, possibility, traffic, winter, weather, linen, sugar, apple, literature, news, dress, tomato, soup, mountain, advice, foreigner, class, shop, poetry, corner, artist, sentence, subject, mistake, revolution, unemployment, kindergarten.

Exercise 6. Change the sentences into the plural where possible:

1. The house is not large but it is comfortable. 2. A study is a room where we study, read or write. 3. The furniture is old-fashioned. 4. There is a pantry in the house. 5. Have you got an exercise to do? 6. There is a green lawn behind the house. 7. Is his family large? 8. This television-set costs a lot of money. 9. What is there in that box? 10. This cupboard is new and modern. 11. There is no soup in my plate. 12. Is the curtain white or yellow? 13. There is a lot of snow in winter. 14. The woman’s dress is bright. 15. A city is a big town. 16. The child’s toy is on the floor.

Exercise 7. Translate into English:

1. Я хочу дать вам хороший совет. 2. Купи в магазине буханку хлеба, пожалуйста. 3. Кусок мыла лежал возле зеркала в ванной. 4. Заплатите за три места багажа. 5. Это – новая информация. 6. Какое чудесное музыкальное произведение! 7. Вспышка молнии напугала её. 8. У Смитов есть новая мебель. 9. Это хорошая новость! 10. Я слышал несколько раскатов грома. 11. Он получил образование в Оксфорде. 12. Какая прекрасная погода сегодня! 13. Все сведения были очень важные. 14. Её познания в географии поразили нас. 15. Какие вы принесли нам новости? 16. Эта посуда не моя. 17. Ваших знаний не достаточно, чтобы получить оценку «отлично». 18. Вы должны получить разрешение на вывоз данных предметов в вашем багаже. 19. Какая скучная работа! 20. Кому принадлежат деньги? – Я не знаю, кому они принадлежат. 21. Она съела два кусочка хлеба с супом. 22. Где ты купила такое красивое бельё?

Exercise 8. Translate into English. Pay attention to uncountable nouns:

1. Мне нужен совет в этом вопросе. 2. Ваши советы очень хороши, но я не могу им последовать. 3. Сведения были очень важные. 4. Какая интересная работа! 5. Она сделала такие большие успехи! 6. Он всегда приносит нам какую-нибудь новость. 7. Вы слушали сегодня последние известия? 8. Где деньги? – Они в портфеле. 9. Погода сегодня отвратительная. Льет дождь, и дует холодный ветер. 10. Приятно поехать за город в хорошую погоду. 11. Какие интересные новости! 12. У тебя есть с собой деньги? Дай мне немного. 13. Работа, которую он нашел, очень нравится ему. 14. Какая замечательная мысль! 15. У нее волосы черные, а глаза голубые. Это делает ее очень привлекательной. 16. Я могу дать вам два хороших совета. 17. Ее старшая сестра велела ей отнести фрукты на кухню и вымыть их в кипяченой воде. 18. Это не мои деньги, я не могу их взять. 19. Кто дал вам такие интересные сведения? 20. Наконец он нашел работу, которая его интересует. 21. Это такая интересная пьеса. 22. Какой хороший совет вы мне дали!

Collective noun + singular or plural verb

1. Collective nouns which have plural forms.

Some collective nouns such as: an army, an audience, a board, a class, a club, a committee, a company, (the) Congress, a council, a crew, a crowd, a delegation, a family, a flock, a gang, a government, a group, a herd, a jury, a mob, Parliament, a staff, a team, a union can be used with singular or plural verbs. They are singular when we think of them in an impersonal fashion, i.e. as a whole group: The group has its final exam on Friday. They are plural when we think of them in a more personal way, i.e. as the individuals that make up the group: The group are working on their individual tasks today. These collective nouns can also have regular plural forms: All the groups were at the meeting.

2. Collective nouns which do not have plural forms.

The following collective nouns have no regular plural but can be used with a singular or plural verb: the aristocrathy, the elite, the gentry, the proletariat, the majority, the minority, the public, the youth of today. The public is (are) nice today.

3. Collective noun + plural verb.

The following collective nouns must be used with a plural verb: cattle, the clergy, the military, people (люди), the police, vermin but: a people – peoples (нация, народ): Some people are always hungry. The police have caught two thieves. But: The police of France is very nice.

Discrete plurality is also expressed by substantivized adjectives denoting people and is used with a plural verb: the helpless, the needy, the poor, the sick, the weary, the rich. The needy are to be helped.

4. Nouns with a plural form + singular verb.

The following nouns, though they are plural in form, are always used with a singular verb:

a) the nouns news, gallows, summons as in: The news is rather depressing.

b) games, such as: billiards, bowls, darts, dominoes, draughts: Darts is his favourite game. But: Look! The dominoes are lying all over the floor!

Note that we normally use a plural verb with the names of sport teams: England (Spartak) have lost all their football matches this season.

c) names of cities, such as: Athens, Brussels, Naples: Athens is the capital of Greece.

d) academic subjects, such as: physics, mathematics, gymnastics: Physics is a compulsory subject at school.

e) plural form nouns describing illnesses: measles, mumps, rickets, shingles: German measles is a dangerous disease for pregnant women.

The words a means – means, a series – series, a species – species, a corps – corps, a (gas) works – (gas) works, a barracks – barracks, a headquarters – headquarters can be used with a singular or plural verb, depending on the word used before them: All means have been used to make him change his mind. One means has not been used yet.

Exercise 9. Choose the right form of the verb to be:

1. The police (was/were) called immediately. 2. When I was at University I used to think that phonetics (is/are) a dull subject. But now I’m of a different opinion. 3. The news (was/were) announced before lunch. 4. Sheep (is/are) grown in the northern areas of Great Britain because there is a lot of green grass. 5. In my opinion, billiards (is/are) a very boring game. But my boyfriend says it’s foolish of me to think so. 6. Deer (is/are) reared in the northern parts of Russia. 7. My son says that physics (is/are) a very interesting subject. 8. In summer cattle (is/are) fed on pasture lands. 9. Rich green foliage (was/were) hiding the house. 10. Where on earth (is/are) the scissors? 11. The machinery (was/were) delivered in time.

Exercise 10. Fill in the blanks with the verb to be:

1. The news … very interesting. 2. My brother’s hair … too long. 3. Our family … in the country now. 4. Mathematics … an interesting subject. 5. There … a lot of people in the theatre. 6. The police … looking for him everywhere. 7. Scotland … playing France in a football match next week. 8. There … a lot of means of transport in the streets of the city. 9. The staff of his office … well-trained and efficient. 10. The new equipment … rather expensive. 11. Brussels … rather expensive city to live in. 12. There … some little mice on the floor.

Exercise 11. Fill in the blanks with the verb to be:

1. The crew … asleep in their bunks down in the hold of the ship. 2. Several of the fish … dying. 3. The press … requested to show their credentials to the guard. 4. Several unusual species of birds … found in this area. 5. When a young deer … motionless, its colouring hides it well. 6. The committee … ready to make its recommendations. 7. All sheep … dipped in the spring to kill the parasites. 8. The family … fighting among themselves constantly. 9. Each of those species of birds … common in our republic. 10. The fish in the aquarium … waiting for their daily feeding. 11. These white swine … not here. 12. My sister’s hair … very beautiful.

Nouns with a plural form + plural verbs

a) Nouns with a plural form only (+ plural verb) are the nouns which can combine with a pair of: bellows, binoculars, boots, breeches, braces, fetters, flannels glasses, knickers, pants, pincers, pliers, pyjamas/pajamas, scissors, shears, shoes, shorts, skates, skis, slippers, socks, spectacles, stockings, suspenders, tights, tongs, trousers, trunks, tweezers.

Some plural nouns when they are used with a pair of must have a singular verb. Compare: My trousers are new. A pair of trousers was bought yesterday. Two pairs of his trousers are torn.

Some of these nouns can have a singular form when used in compounds or when they can be separated: a pyjama top, a trouser leg, a stocking, a sock. Where is your pyjama top? Look! Your sock is torn!

b) A few words which occur only in the plural are used with a plural verb: annals, antipodes, arms (= weapons), ashes (= human remains), auspices, banns, belongings, brains (= intellect), clothes, congratulations, contents, customs, customs-duty, customs-house, damages (= compensation), dregs, earnings, goods, goods train, greens, home-comings, lodgings, looks (= appearance), manners (= behaviour), misgivings, oats, outskirts, pains (= trouble), particulars (detailed information), premises (= buildings), proceeds, provisions (= food supplies), quarters (= accommodation), regards, remains, resources, riches, shortcomings, stairs, suds, surroundings, thanks, troops, tropics, tidings, valuables, whereabouts, winnings: All your clothes are in that wardrobe.

Exercise 12. Fill in the blanks with the verb to be:

1. The shorts … too tight for me! 2. The stairs … worn by thousands of visitors. 3. My earnings (not) … high, but at least they … regular. 4. Where … the scissors? 5. All their belongings … in those boxes. 6. Your scales … broken! I can’t weigh so much! 7. Your trousers … too expensive. 8. Look! Your clothes … dirty again! 9. The trouser leg … torn. 10. There … a new pair of gloves for you on your desk. 11. New goods … being loaded at this time. 12. Your glasses … in your pocket! 13. Where … my trousers, Mum? 14. I need my glasses. Where … they? 15. Can I use your scissors? Mine … not sharp enough.