Common English Foundation

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Common English Foundation

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She bought an attractive old piece of furniture at the auction sale. ... The puppies are sleeping now. He studied bird migration for years. The research has paid off. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Common English Foundation


1
  • Common English Foundation
  • Countability Articles

2
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.

4
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.

7
  • ? 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.

8
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.

9
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.

10
Uncountable nouns associated with traveling
  • luggage/ baggage, accommodation,
  • money/ currency, travel information,
  • skiing equipment, soap, toothpaste,
  • washing powder, paper

11
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.

12
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.

13
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.

14
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.

15
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

16
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.

17
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.

18
Making uncountable words countable more examples
  • Weather
  • 1d, 2e, 3b, 4c, 5a

19
Making uncountable words countable (continued)
  • In a groceries store
  • A _ _ _ _ of bread
  • Two _ _ _ _ of chocolate
  • A _ _ _ _ of toothpaste
  • Two _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of milk
  • Three _ _ _ _ of soap

20
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.

21
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.

22
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.

23
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.

24
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.

25
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.

26
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.

27
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.
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