 Common uncountable nouns

advice baggage damage equipment evidence furniture hair homework knowledge luggage machinery money permission news progress research travel

 Common pieces and amounts

a loaf/slice of bread

a knob of butter

a bar/piece/square of chocolate

a bolt/length/piece of cloth

a lump of coal

an ear/sheaf of corn

a speck/particle/cloud of dust

a wisp/bank/patch of fog

a sliver/splinter/pane of glass

a blob of glue/ wax

a blade of grass

a lock/strand/wisp/tuft/mop/shock of hair

a bale of hay

a plot/area of land

a ray/beam/shaft of light

a dose of medicine

a wad/sum of money

a piece/sheet/scrap of paper

a grain of rice/ sand/ truth

a coil/length/piece of rope

a grain/pinch of salt

a cloud/blanket/column/puff/wisp of smoke

a flake/blanket of snow

a bar/cake of soap

a measure/slug/tot of spirits

a slab/block of stone

a ball/piece/length of string

a ball/spool of wool

a grain/lump of sugar

a bead/drop/trickle of sweat

a reel of tape

a reel/strand of thread

a strand/piece/length of wire

a grain/sheaf of wheat

Unit 3: articles

Test Your Grammar

Insert the appropriate articles in the following sentences. Part a

It was (1)… fine summer day in Sherwood Forest in England, (2)… year 1194. Early in (3)… morning (4) … poor man went into (5) … forest to try and find (6)… wood for (7) … fire. Suddenly (8) … man wearing (9) … green shirt and (10)… green trousers rode up and dropped (11) … bag of (12) … money into (13) … poor man’s hands. ‘Who are you?’ asked (14) … poor man. ‘I’m Robin Hood,’ said (15) … man in green. ‘I take (16) … money from (17) … rich and give it to (18) … poor.’ ‘Hurrah! Hurrah!’ said (19) … poor man. ‘I’m rich! I’m rich!’ Robin Hood thought for (20) … minute. Then he took out his sword. He pointed (21) … sword at (22) … man and said, ‘Rich, are you? Well, then, give me (23) … money back!

Part B

The Wreck of the Titan, (28)… book that describes (29) … tragic maiden voyage of (30) … largest luxury liner ever built, (31) … unsinkable Titan. 75,000 tons dead-weight, she had three propellers, (32) … top speed of twenty-five knots, and carried 2,000-3,000 passengers. But she only had twenty-four lifeboats, far too few to accommodate all (33) … passengers, and on (34) … foggy night in April she crashed into, and was sunk by, (35) … massive iceberg.

(36) … Titanic was built thirteen years later; she also displaced 75,000 tons, had three screws and (37) … maximum speed of twenty-five knots. She was “(38) … largest craft afloat” and had (39) … same reputation for (40) … invulnerability. On her maiden voyage in 1912, (41) … Titanic sank after encountering (42) … iceberg on (43) … night of April 14, in (44) … thick fog. There were 2,207 passengers on (45) … board, but only twenty lifeboats; fifteen hundred people died.

Part c

In 1898, (24) … American author (25) … Morgan Robertson, who wrote his novels in (26) … trancelike state of (27) … consciousness, published

Part D

Thanks to (46) … electric light, (47) … Americans today, on (48) … average, sleep 1.5 hours less each day than (49) … Americans of (50) … hundred years ago. (51) … University of Florida report noted that (52) … most adults sleep 7.5 hours (53) … day.

Part E

(54) … largest picture ever painted was Panorama of (55) … Mississippi, by John Banvard. It was about 1,500m long and 3.65m wide. It was destroyed in (56) … fire.

Part F

If you visit all (57) … parts of (58) … Hermitage in (59) … St. Petersburg you have to walk 24 kilometers.

Part G

(60) … Museum of (61) … Modern Art in New York hung Le Bateau by (62) … Matisse upside down for 47 days before they discovered (63)… mistake

Part H

(64) … misleading advice for (65) … foreigners

[(66) … New Statesman magazine set (67) … competition in which (68) … readers were asked to give (69) … misleading advice to (70) … tourists visiting England for (71) … first time. These are some of (72) … entries.]

(73) … women are not allowed upstairs on (74) … buses; if you see (75) … woman there, ask her politely to descend.

(76) … visitors in (77) … London hotels are expected by (78) … management to hang (79) … bed linen out of (80) … windows to air it.

Try (81) … famous echo in (82) … British Museum Reading Room.

On first entering (83) … underground train, it is customary to shake (84) … hands with every passenger.

If you take (85) … taxi, (86) … driver will be only too willing to give your shoes (87) … polish while waiting at (88) … traffic lights.

Never attempt to tip (89) … taxi-driver.

Parking is permitted in (90) … grounds of (91) … Buckingham Palace on (92) … payment of (93) … small fee to (94) … sentry. [sentry: soldier on guard].

Never pay (95) … price demanded for (96) … newspaper; good-natured haggling is customary. [haggling: arguing about the price]

Part I

I saw (97) … funny-looking dog yesterday. It looked like a cross between (98) … Pekinese and (99) … German shepherd. When it saw my cat, (100) … dog ran away.

Points to Think of

1. Compare the sentences and explain the use of articles paying attention to the class and the form of the noun.

1 a) There was a cake for her, with ten candles on it.

b) The diet was frugal: __ cheese and __ water, __ rice and __ beans.

2 a) He looked like some giant from a fairy story.

b) The full story of what happened has never been reported.

3 a) A dictionary is a reference book that lists __ words in order and gives their meanings.

b) __Books on the Royal Family are selling like hot cakes.

c) Every inch of shelf space was crammed with __ books.

4 a) That clock's an hour fast.

b) After breakfast the next morning they sat around for __hours discussing political affairs.

c) An hour is a period of sixty minutes.

5 a) Throughout the Far East, the tiger has always been regarded as an animal of magical properties.

b) Collin wanted to see the tiger, but the reporter was in the way.

c) He smiled a little as he corrected himself, like the famous tiger of the limerick when he returned from the ride with the lady inside.

6 a) We stayed in a fantastic hotel near the city centre.

b) It is the only hotel I know where I kissed the owner goodbye.

c) They would stay at the same hotel.

7 a) The lion is an ambush killer.

b) A lion is a large wild member of the cat family that is found in Africa.

c) __man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to. (Shaw)

8 a) It was a brilliant October morning with a perfect sky and cool wind.

b) The sky turned dark just before the storm.

c) There was a low humming sound in the sky.

9 a) The world gets better every day – than worse again in the evening. (Kin Hubbard)

b) Art is an effort to create, beside the real world, a more human world. (Maurois)

10 a) __ flavored coffee is sold at gourmet food stores and coffee shops.

b) There is a smouldering anger in the black community.

11 a) Since __ iron destroys vitamin E, these two nutrients should not be taken in conjunction.

b) A brand was a mark of ownership burned into the hide of an animal with a hot iron. [A hide is the skin of a large animal such as a cow, horse, or elephant, which can be used for making leather]

c) On the eve of the Revolution, the colonies produced thirty thousand tons of __ crude iron a year.

12 a) He ordered a white coffee.

b) I drink __ black coffee.

13 a) Swaledale is a traditional cheese of the same era as Wensleydale, which has been revived and is now selling well.

b) If you like __cheese, go for the ones with the least fat.

14 a) __Work is the greatest thing in the world, so we should always save some for tomorrow.

b) A major new work by one of Poland's leading film directors will be shown next Saturday.

15 a) __Captain Shelton guided his plane down the runway and took off.

b) They say, she married a Captain Black a couple of months ago.

c) He is not the Captain Swan I used to know.

16 a) As usual, the wicked Helen managed to spoil the whole affair.

b) It was quite a frightened Rose who rang the bell.

3. Copy the chart below and illustrate the following rules by filling in the appropriate sentences from the previous exercise. If necessary, make sentences of your own.

Countable nouns	Uncountable nouns
	Uncountable material	Uncountable abstract + proper names
/an = “some” Pl: Θ = “some” __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ a/an = “every” Pl: Θ = “all” __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ a/an = “one” __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________	Θ = general use (even if there are descriptive attributes!) _______________ _______________ _______________ ______________________________ ______________________________	Θ = general use ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ when there is a descriptive attribute which shows a special aspect or phase of the notion: a/an = “certain” ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________
		NOTE: There are 6 classes of attributes which are considered non-descriptive and therefore do not influence the choice of the article: time (modern, ancient, eternal, contemporary, etc.) ________________________ degree (great, perfect, huge, tremendous, sufficient, utter, etc.) ________________________ authenticity (real, genuine, authentic, symbolic, etc.) ________________________ social characteristics (capitalist, racial, religious, etc.) ________________________ national characteristics (English, French, etc.) ________________________ geographical ch-s (Moscow, London, world, etc.) ________________________
	SHIFT OF MEANING: an object (portion, sort, etc.) – see general rules for countable nouns _____________________________________________
the = “this, that, these, those”	the = “this, that”	the = “this, that”
Means of specification: limiting attributes (pre- and post-modifying) the meaning of the noun (unique objects) context situation
__________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________	_______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________	________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________________________________
the = “a class as a whole” __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________

Grammar in Focus

1. Translate the following sentences paying attention to the use of articles with the words in italics:

1. Hearing the noise Ammy sprang up to her feet: - Hurry up, Jim! Here comes the train! - Calm down, Ammy. It’s not the train, it’s just a train.

2. The late Mr.Thomson was a wonderful person respected and admired by all the neighbours and colleges.

3. Alice had a feeling which was a strange kind of mixture of fear and curiosity.

4. Peter was hungry as a hunter, but he was too shy to ask for a second helping.

5. Mr. Johnson is a most talented lecturer and he is also the most amiable person I’ve ever met.

6. This is the very script I told you about.

7. I’m telling you I don’t know a Mr.White! There used to live a Mrs.White two houses down the street many ears ago, but we didn’t exchange a word!

8. I know they all are going to try hard and play tough to win a first prize at the contest.

9. I spotted a grey hair above her left ear and suddenly realized in what deadly despair and grief my Mum had been all that time.

10. When the door-bell rang for the first time I thought it was just an illusion. There came a second and a third ring and I understood I wasn’t the only one to suffer from insomnia that rainy autumn night.

11. I’d love a lemon tea with sugar and a fruit salad.

12. A Gaits definitely makes an eligible bachelor!