Countable – Uncountable Nouns

I am, you are, he is

A bit of theory

Statements	I am	he is	we are
	I’m	he’s	we’re
	you are	she is	they are
	you’re	she’s	they’re
		it is
		it’s
Negatives	I am not	he is not	we are not
	I’m not	he isn’t	we aren’t
	you are not	she is not	they are not
	you aren’t	she isn’t	they aren’t
		it is not
		it isn’t
Questions	Am I…?	Is he…?	Is it…?	Are we…?
	Are you…?	Is she…?		Are they…?
Examples	• with ages
	Carlos is fifteen.	Anna is fourteen.
	• with nationality words
	I’m Spanish.		She’s Turkish.
	• with jobs
	Jim is a teacher.	Are you a student?
	• with an adjective
	You’re right.	I’m happy.	It’s easy.
	• with this/that
	This is my bike.	Is that your seat?
	• With question words: where, when, what, who, why, how old
	Where is Jim?	When is the next lesson?	What time is it?
	Who are you?	Why are they here?	How old are you?

1. Complete the questions and answers.	a) What’s your name?	My name …… is ….. Carlos.
b) Where……. ……. from?	I’m from Brazil.
c) Are you at school?	Yes, ……… ……… a student.
d) How old ……… ……..?	I’m fifteen.
e) ……….. English difficult?	No, it’s easy.
2. Write about yourself.	My name …………………….. ……………… from …………... …...…………………..(a student). …………………………(sixteen).
3. Put is, are, isn’t or aren’t in each space.	a) This … is … my family. b) These ……….. my parents. c) Lucy ………. my sister, she’s my friend. d) We …….. in our garden, we aren’t at the beach. e) My friends ……… in this photo. f) They …….. at the park. g) My dog, Bonzo, ………. in this photo. h) He ……… at the park too.
4. Make negative sentences.	a) It’s hot today. b) I’m at home. c) My friends are here. d) You’re a teacher. e) It’s 3.30. f) We’re at the cinema. g) This is difficult. h) We’re in London. i) Katy is happy. j) This answer is wrong.	.... It isn’t hot today....................... ………………………………….. ………………………………….. ………………………………….. ………………………………….. ………………………………….. ………………………………….. ………………………………….. ………………………………….. …………………………………..
5. Make questions.	a) I’m late. b) You’re ill. c) They’re ready. d) We’re right. e) He’s fifteen. f) It’s cold. g) She’s American. h) He’s at the park. i) The school is in this street. j) My books are in your bag.	... Am I late...................................? ………………………………….? ………………………………….? ………………………………….? ………………………………….? ………………………………….? ………………………………….? ………………………………….? ………………………………….? ………………………………….?

6. Complete the sentences. Use the words in the box.

am (’m)	is (’s)	are (’re)
am not (’m not)	is not (isn’t)	are not (aren’t)

1 David’s new bicycle … is …. blue.

2 A: Are these your books?

B: No, they … aren’t …

3 My children ……… 8 and 6 years old.

4 I ……… interested in baseball. I think it’s boring.

5 We can walk to the supermarket. It …….. far.

6 A: Are you a teacher?

B: Yes, I ……...

7 A: …….. those birds from South America?

B: The red one …….., but the blue one ………….

8 When ……… your birthday?

9 Kate and Sandra ……….. at work today because it is a holiday.

10 You ………. wrong. 9 x 9 is 81, not 82.

11 ………. this the right bus for the city centre?

12 A: Where ………. my shoes?

B: In your bedroom.

 

7. Complete the sentences. Use one of the question forms in the box + is or are.

Where	Who	What
How	Why	How much
What colour	How old
	A: … Where are … my keys?	B: On the table.
	A: ……………… the time, please?	B: Half past five.
	A: ……………… your headache now?	B: Much better, thank you.
	A: ……………… the holiday photographs?	B: In your handbag.
	A: ……………… that clock?	B: Three hundred years old.
	A: ……………… your new shoes?	B: Red.
	A: ……………… Simon happy today?	B: Because it’s his birthday.
	A: ……………… Maria from?	B: Spain, I think.
	A: ……………… these trousers?	B: They’re £40.
	A: ……………… that man in the car?	B: My uncle.
	A: ……………… the banks closed today?	B: Because it’s a holiday.

8. Write positive or negative sentences. Begin in Box A and choose an ending from Box B.

A	+		+	B
1 Peter’s parents		at work this week. I’m on holiday.
2 The Andes		the capital of the USA.
3 New York		a hot country.
4 Football	am/am not	good for you.
5 Paul	is/isn’t	very high mountains.
6 Britain	are/aren’t	British. She’s American.
7 All the shops		on holiday.
8 I		closed at lunchtime.
9 Too many chocolates		21 years old today.
10 Sally’s teacher		a popular sport in Britain.

 

1 … Peter’s parents are on holiday…….

2 The Andes....………………………...

3 New York……………………………

4 ……………………………………….

5 ……………………………………….

6 ……………………………………….

7 ……………………………………….

8 ……………………………………….

9 ……………………………………….

10 ……………………………………...

 

NOUNS

A bit of theory

● Nouns are: abstract (invasion, visit etc), concrete (invader, visitor etc), proper (David, Madrid, Japan etc), collective (audience, family, government etc) and common (book, sofa etc).

The Plural of Nouns

Nouns are made plural by adding:
● –s to the noun.(book – books etc)	● –s to nouns ending in: vowel + o (video – videos), double o (taboo – taboos), abbreviations (photograph/photo – photos), musical instruments (cello – cellos) and proper nouns (Navajo – Navajos). Some nouns ending in –o can take either –es or –s. These are: buffaloes/buffalos, mosquitoes/mosquitos, volcanoes/volcanos, zeroes/zeros, tornadoes/tornados etc
● –es to nouns ending in –s, -ss, -x, -ch, -sh.(bus – buses, class – classes, fox – foxes, church – churches, rash – rashes etc)
● –ies to nouns ending in consonant + y. (body – bodies, party – parties etc)
● –s to nouns ending in vowel + y. (boy – boys, play – plays etc)	● –ves to some nouns ending in –f/-fe. (scarf – scarves) (but: chiefs, roofs, cliffs, safes etc)
● –es to nouns ending in –o (potato – potatoes)	● Some nouns of Greek or Latin origin form their plural by adding Greek or Latin suffixes. (basis – bases, crisis – crises, terminus – termini, criterion – criteria, medium – media etc)
Compound nouns form their plural by adding –s/-es:
● to the second noun if the compound consists of two nouns. (corkscrew – corkscrews)	● to the first noun if the compound consists of two nouns connected with a preposition or to the noun if the compound has only one noun. (doctor of philosophy – doctors of philosophy, hanger-on – hangers-on)
● to the noun if the compound consists of an adjective and a noun. (steering wheel – steering wheels)	● at the end of the compound if this is not made up of any nouns. (runaway – runaways)

Irregular Plurals: man – men, woman – women, foot – feet, tooth – teeth, louse – lice, mouse – mice, child – children, goose – geese, sheep – sheep, deer – deer, fish – fish, trout – trout, ox – oxen, salmon – salmon, spacecraft – spacecraft, aircraft – aircraft, means – means, species – species, hovercraft – hovercraft

1. Write the plural of the following words:

	potato	. potatoes.		zoo	…………		boyfriend	………….
	house	…………		fishing rod	…………		mother-in-law	………….
	photo	…………		fox	…………		stepmother	………….
	dessert spoon	…………		child	…………		type	………….
	fish	…………		trout	…………		stereo	………….
	video	…………		louse	…………		mosquito	………….
	lorry	…………		teacher	…………		superstar	………….
	toy	…………		baby	…………		story	………….
	calf	…………		workman	…………		flyover	………….
	wolf	…………		ship	…………		bunch	………….

2. Write the plural of each word in brackets.

a) Can you go to the shops? We need some (potato) … potatoes ….

b) Most (family) …………….. enjoy going on holiday together.

c) Close the window. The room is full of (fly) ……………..

d) Jack decided to make some (bookshelf) ………………. for his bedroom.

e) My little brother has got two white (mouse) …………….. as pets.

f) Do you think you could help me wash the (dish) ……………..?

g) The room was full of mothers with their (baby) ……………..

h) Joe bought his friends some (knife) ……………. and forks.

i) Sue bought three (box) …………….. of chocolates.

j) In the afternoon we went to the zoo and fed the (monkey) ……………….

 

3. Complete the words.

a) In the autumn, the l eaves ……. on the trees change colour, and then fall off.

b) The teachers in our school have very busy l…………. They work really hard all the time!

c) My dentist told me to brush my t…………. after every meal.

d) In the library there were lots of s………… full of books.

e) We wanted to light a fire so we bought a box of m…………..

f) The two t………… stole some money, but were caught by the police.

g) Kate has got two c………….., a son and a daughter.

h) These shoes are too small for me. I’ve got very big f…………….

i) Nowadays w………… want to do the same jobs as men.

j) My eyes ache when I read. I think I need new g…………...

 

Countable – Uncountable Nouns

A bit of theory

Nouns can be countable (those that be counted) 1 egg, 2 eggs etc or uncountable (those that can’t be counted) bread, wood etc. Uncountable nouns take a singular verb and are not used with a/an.

Some, any, no, much etc can be used with them. Luggage is obtained from the Luggage Reclaim Area. Can I have some bread, please?

But: a relief, a pity, a shame, a wonder, a knowledge (of sth), a help. What a relief! What a pity! What a shame!

 

Uncountable nouns are:

· Mass nouns (fluids, solids, gases, particles): beer, blood, bread, butter, air, oxygen, corn, flour etc.

· Subjects of study: history, literature, maths, physics, accountancy, chemistry, economics etc.

· Languages: Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, Chinese etc.

· Games: baseball, billiards, football, golf, darts, rugby, cricket, cycling etc.

· Diseases: flu, pneumonia, measles, mumps, chickenpox, tuberculosis etc.

· Natural phenomena: darkness, fog, gravity, hail, snow, sunlight, shade etc.

· Some nouns: accommodation, advice, anger, applause, assistance, behaviour, business, chaos, countryside, courage, dirt, education, evidence, homework, housework, information, intelligence, knowledge, luck, music, news, peace, progress, seaside, shopping, traffic, trouble, truth, wealth, work etc.

· Collective nouns: baggage, crockery, cutlery, furniture, jewellery, luggage, machinery, money, rubbish, stationery etc.

Note: With expressions of duration, distance or money meaning “a whole amount” we use a singular verb. Two months was too long to spend in hospital.