Language work: Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Help box Countable nouns are people or things that we can count. They have a singular and a plural form. They must have determiner (a, one, my, this, ...) in the singular though, this is not necessary in the plural. e.g. computer, website, bookmark Uncountable (mass) nouns are things that we can't count. They have no plural form. e.g. information, pirating, storage They are partly distinguished by the determiners they take. Many, few, a few go with countable nouns. We didn't take many pictures. I have a few jobs to do. Much, little, a little, a great deal of only go with uncountable nouns. We didn't do much shopping. I have little work to do.

Some, any, no, enough can go with both countable and uncountable nouns. We listened to some music. Did you buy any CDs? I don't have enough money. Some words are countable in most languages, but uncountable in English and are used with a singular verb: advice, damage, equipment, furniture, research, luggage, news, progress, homework, weather

Ex. 1. Here are some common nouns in computing. Divide them into countable and uncountable nouns. Look at the HELP box and use a dictionary if necessary.

1 window 2 robotics 3 hardware 4 program 5 hacker

6 hacking 7 system 8 software 9 workstation 10 graphics

11 code 12 appliance 13 architecture 14 folder 15 menu

Ex. 2. These sentences contain typical errors. Correct them.

1. We are having a terrible weather.

2. Can you give me an advice?

3. I need some informations.

4. The news were very depressing.

5. I like the furnitures.

6. Much people use the Web today.

7. We had a lot of homeworks yesterday.

8. She is making a good progress with her English.

9. There are many equipment in this classroom.

10. We are going to sell all our furnitures.

11. The headphones on my new walkman are great.

Ex. 3. Complete these sentences, using many, much, few, little, a lot of, plenty of

1. Have you got … work to do today? – Quite … .

2. They are not rich. They’ve got … money.

3. Ann is very busy these days. She has … free time.

4. The museum was very crowded. There were too … people.

5. I usually drink … coffee in the morning.

6. She’s lucky. She has … problems.

7. We must be quick. We have … time.

8. We’ll find where to stay, there … hotels in this town.

9. Do you mind if I ask you … questions?

10. Have you ever been to Paris? – Yes, I’ve been there … times.

Ex. 4. Choose the right option:

1. … home PCs use Windows.

a) few b) little c) a lot of

1. One program can perform … tasks at the same time.

a) much b) a few c) many

2. A computer system consists of … different units.

a) many b) few c) much

3. There are … programmers who began using Linux.

a) a few b) a great deal of c) little.

4. There is … software that was designed to compile on Linux.

a) much b) little c) many

5. There are … operating systems with graphical interfaces mentioned in this text. They are: MacOS, OS/2, Penpoint, Windows NT and others.

a) a lot of b) a few c) much

6. Spreadsheets have … functions and instructions.

a) many b) few c) little

Ex. 5. Complete this text with a, an, the (or nothing at all) as necessary.

At school we have (1) … computer in every classroom. We use (2) … computer to do (3) … projects and to study (4) … music and languages.

The teachers use PCs to print articles, songs, or activities for use in class. This year, they are preparing (5) … exchange with a college in Norfolk. We all use it to get (6) … information from (7) … Internet. At home I use my computer to send and receive (8) … e-mail and to play (9) … computer games. I have (10) … ink-jet primer.

T E X T B

Task 1. a) Learn to read these words properly.

particular (a)	[pq`tIkjulq]	1) особый, особенный 2) отдельный
to purchase (v)	[`pq:tSqs]	покупать, закупать
purpose (n)	[`pq:pqs]	цель, намерение целеустремленность
an employee (n)	[emplO`i:]	сотрудник, служащий
wage (n)	[`weiG]	зарплата
retrieval (n)	[ri`tri:vl]	поиск (информации)
spreadsheet (n)	[`spredSi:t]	электронная таблица
finance (n)	[faI`nxns]	pl. финансы, доходы
row (n)	[rou]	ряд
a cell (n)	[sel]	1) ячейка, 2) клетка, 3)элемент
total (n)	[`toutl]	итог
percentage (n)	[pq`sentIG]	процентное отношение
font (n)	[fOnt]	шрифт
alignment (n)	[q`lainmqnt]	выравнивание
query (n)	[`kwIqri]	запрос

b) Memorize the following words and word combinations.

1. a record-keeping system – система сохранения записи

2. to fill in a form – заполнить бланк (форму)

3. relevant (information) – относящийся к делу, уместный

4. to assign ( a number) – присвоить (число, номер)

5. once - поскольку, когда

6. to search one’s database – искать ч-л базу данных

7. to extract (information) – извлекать информацию

8. to perform a query – выполнить запрос

c) Read the text and discuss how the following ideas are expressed.