Common English Foundation

1

• Common English Foundation
• Countability Articles

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Countable and Uncountable Nouns

• You are going to look at one part of an IELTS
  writing task answer written by a candidate who
  achieved a Band 5 score.
• The examiner suggested that the major weakness of
  the writing lies in grammatical accuracy of the
  basic and simple sentence structures apart from
  other issues.

3
Warm up exerciseCambridge IELTS2. Examination
papers from the University of Cambridge Local
Examination Syndicate, CUP, 2000. (Band 5
Achiever)

• This chart show us the number of Japanese
  tourists go abroad for travelling in a decade and
  Australian's share of marketing for Japanese
  tourists. Between 1985 and 1995 Japanese
  tourists travelling abroad was dramatically
  increased.
• In 85 there was about 5 millions traveller go
  abroad. Since 85 number of traveller went up
  dramatically until 90. It was almost twice then
  between 90 and 93 the number remain stateable,
  which is about 12 millions. From 93 to 95 it
  rose slightly. Therefore in 1995 there were
  about 15 millions people went abroad.

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possible grammatical problems

• This chart show us that the number of Japanese
  tourists go abroad for travelling in a decade and
  Australian's share of marketing for Japanese
  tourists. Between 1985 and 1995 Japanese
  tourists travelling abroad was dramatically
  increased.
• In 85 there was about 5 millions traveller go
  abroad. Since 85 number of traveller went up
  dramatically until 90. It was almost twice then
  between 90 and 93 the number remain stateable,
  which is about 12 millions. From 93 to 95 it
  rose slightly. Therefore in 1995 there were
  about 15 millions people went abroad.

5

• ? This chart show us that Japanese tourists go
  abroad for travelling in a decade and
  Australian's share of marketing for Japanese
  tourists.
• ? This chart shows us the number of Japanese
  tourists going abroad for travelling in a decade
  and Australian's share of marketing for Japanese
  tourists.
• ? Between 1985 and 1995 Japanese tourists
  travelling abroad was dramatically increased.
• ? Between 1985 and 1995 Japanese tourists
  travelling abroad had dramatically increased.

6

• ? In 85 there was about 5 millions traveller go
  abroad.
• ? In 1985 there were about 5 million
  travellers going abroad.
• ? Since 85 number of traveller went up
  dramatically until 90.
• ? Since 1985 the number of travellers had
  gone up dramatically until 1990.

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• ? It was almost twice then between 90 and 93 the
  number remain stateable, which is about 12
  millions.
• ? The number was almost twice as much then
  between 1990 and 1993 and it remained stable at
  12 million.
• ? From 93 to 95 it rose slightly. Therefore in
  1995 there were about 15 millions people went
  abroad.
• ? From 1993 to 1995 it rose slightly.
  Therefore in 1995 there were about 15 million
  people going abroad.

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Countability

• Countable nouns are sometimes preceded by a, an
  or the and sometimes by quantifiers such as some,
  many and others.
• On the other hand, uncountable nouns are not
  normally used with a/an or the plural, e.g.
  information, not an information, or some
  informations.

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Uncountable Nouns

• When we learn uncountable nouns, we might try to
  remember them in groups associated with the same
  subject area.e.g. Make a list of things related
  to a trip traveling to another country. Try and
  name as many uncountable nouns as you can.

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Uncountable nouns associated with traveling

• luggage/ baggage, accommodation,
• money/ currency, travel information,
• skiing equipment, soap, toothpaste,
• washing powder, paper

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Uncountable nouns abstract words

• Abstract words are often uncountable.
• She gave me some a_ _ _ _ _ on how to build up my
  vocabulary.
• I picked up some interesting k_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ on
  that ELT course.
• She's made a lot of p_ _ _ _ _ _ _ in a very
  short time.
• She has done some r_ _ _ _ _ _ _ on marine life.
• They've done a lot of w_ _ _ on the project.
• Here's a tip for learning vocabularyAlways make
  an uncountable noun with U in your vocabulary
  notebook.

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Common errors

• We had a terrible weather that we left the
  camp-site and got an accommodation in town
  instead.
• In the North of England, most houses are made of
  wood, but in the South, bricks are more common.
• I love antique furnitures, but I would need an
  advice from a specialist before I bought any. My
  knowledges in the area are very poor.
• I have a good news for you.

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Nouns that are always plural

• When I move to London, I'll have to find
  lodgings.
• When will the goods be delivered?
• The architect inspected the foundations before
  declaring that the premises were safe.
• The military authorities have established their
  headquarters in the old Town Hall.
• The acoustics in the new opera house are
  near-perfect.
• Looks are less important than personality in a
  partner.
• As you come to the outskirts of the village,
  there are traffic-lights.
• The stairs are a bit dangerous.
• A terrorist has escaped from prison. His
  whereabouts are unknown.

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Words that look plural but are NOT

• Series/ News/ Means
• Politics/ Economics/ Physics/ Statistics
• Measles/ Rabies/ Diabetes/ Mumpse.g. There
  was a series of programmes on TV about
  Japan.e.g. Is there a cheap means of transport I
  could use to get there?e.g. Statistics was
  always my worst subject.

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Countable Uncountable with different meanings

• There's a hair in my sandwich, a dark one.
• It must be Helen's. She has black hair.
• Did you buy a paper this morning?
• There's no more paper in the photocopier.
• I love meeting people from different countries.
• The different peoples of Asia
• Her grandma lives in a home.
• Let's go home.
• Countable specific things
• Uncountable the idea of the thing in general

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Collective nouns

• Team/ Crew/ Company/ Government/ Class/
  Cast/ Staff/ Gang/ Audience/Department/
  Population/ Orchestra/Army/ Club/ Family/
  Jury/ Press
• Collective nouns are used to describe a group of
  the same things.

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Making uncountable nouns countable

• You can make many uncountable nouns singular by
  adding a bit of or a piece of. Similarly you can
  make then plural with bits of or pieces of.
• She bought an attractive old piece of furniture
  at the auction sale.
• How many pieces of luggage have you got with you?
• I head a really useful bit of information
  yesterday.
• Mozart wrote some wonderful pieces of music.

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Making uncountable words countable more examples

• Weather
• 1d, 2e, 3b, 4c, 5a

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Making uncountable words countable (continued)

• In a groceries store
• A _ _ _ _ of bread
• Two _ _ _ _ of chocolate
• A _ _ _ _ of toothpaste
• Two _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of milk
• Three _ _ _ _ of soap

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Articles a, an, the

• Articles precede a noun. Some nouns require a
  definite article the, some an indefinite article
  a or an, some zero article.
• Ask yourself these questions in deciding which
  article to use.

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Q1 Is the noun a proper noun?

• If the noun is a singular proper noun, use zero
  article, e.g. Donald Tsang, Asia, Chinese New
  Year.
• But there are exceptions The Chinese University
  of Hong Kong, the HK SAR Government, the United
  Kingdom, the Opium War, etc.
• If the noun is a plural proper noun, use the
  definite article the, e.g. the United States, the
  Philippines.

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Q2 For common nouns, does the noun have a
specific reference?

• If the noun has a specific reference, that is, it
  refers to a specific object or person, use the
  definite article the.
• E.g. Reference outside the text
• The earth revolves around the sun.
• E.g. Reference inside the text
• Her dog gave birth. The puppies are sleeping
  now.
• He studied bird migration for years. The
  research has paid off.
• The car that had been stolen last week was found
  by the police.

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Q3 For nouns without specific reference, is the
noun countable or uncountable?

• If the noun is countable and singular, use the
  indefinite article a or an.
• Use a before a consonant sound. e.g. a bird, a
  cross, a dog.
• Use an before a vowel sound. e.g. an apple, an
  elephant, an hour, also, an MBA degree, an FBI
  agent,
• but a university, a European, a one-hour act.

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For nouns without specific reference, is the noun
countable or uncountable?

• If the noun is countable and plural, use zero
  article (_)
• some, several, a few, a lot of or many.
• e.g. I need _ ideas! Give me some ideas!
• He has been gone for several years.
• Here are a few good men.
• She read a lot of books during summer.
• They seem to be having many arguments.

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For nouns without specific reference, is the noun
countable or uncountable?

• If the noun is uncountable, use zero article,
  some, a little or much.
• e.g. I need _ information about the case.
• They are throwing away some old furniture.
• Would you like some sugar with your tea?
• I save a little money each week.
• Theres much heat in the debate.

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Other uses of articles

• (1) the adjective represents a class of
  people. e.g. the old, the poor. The verb is
  plural and the pronoun is they. e.g. The weak
  are helpless they need support.
• (2) Superlatives. e.g. Hes the best player on
  the team. Try to make the best out of it.

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Uncountable nouns and quantity words

• Remember that these words are uncountable
  data, advice, information, news, paper
• It is therefore incorrect to say I collected
  many data. He gave me two advices. I found many
  information on this topic. I heard a news. I only
  have one paper to write on.
• Instead, make use of quantity words (such as a
  lot of, a piece of) or rephrase your sentence.
• Correct usage I did two pieces of research work.
  I collected a lot of data. He gave me two pieces
  of advice. I found a lot of information on this
  topic. I heard a piece of news. I only have two
  sheets of paper to write on.