Countable and uncountable 2
Many nouns can be used as countable or uncountable nouns, usually with a difference in meaning.
Compare:
Countable:
◇Did you hear a noise just now?
◇I bought a paper to read.
◇There’s a hair in my soup!
◇You can stay with us. There’s a spare room.
◇I had some interesting experiences while I was traveling.
◇Enjoy your trip. Have a good time!
Uncountable
◇I can’t work here. There’s too much noise.
◇I need some paper to write on.
◇You’ve got very long hair.
◇You can’t sit here. There isn’t room.
◇They offered me the job because I had a lot of experience.
◇I can’t wait. I don’t have time.
芳香烃Coffee/Tea/Juice/Beer are normally uncountable.
◇I don’t like coffee very much.
拔火罐的好处和坏处◇Two coffees and an orange juice, please.
The following nouns are usually uncountable:
You cannot use a/an with there nouns:
◇I’m going to buy some bread. or … a loaf of bread.
◇Enjoy your holiday! I hope you have good weather.
There nouns are not usually plural:
◇Where are you going to put all your furniture?
◇Let me know if you need more information.
News is uncountable, not plural:
◇The news was very depressing.
Travel means ‘traveling in general’. We do not say ‘a travel’ to mean a trip or a journey:
◇They spend a lot of money on travel.
◇We had a very good trip/journey.
Compare these countable and uncountable nouns:
Exercises:
Part One: Which of the underlined parts of these sentences is correct?
1. ‘Did you hear noise/a noise just now? ‘No, I didn’t hear anything.’
2. a. If you want to know the news, you can read paper/a paper.
b. I want print some documents, but the printer is out of paper/papers.
3. a. Light/A light comes from the sun.
b. I thought there was somebody in the house because there was light/a light inside.
4. a. I was in a hurry this morning. I didn’t have time/a time for breakfast.
b. ‘Did you have a good holiday?’‘Yes, we had wonderful time/ a wonderful time.’
5. This is nice room/ a nice room. Did you decorate it yourself?
6. Sue was very helpful. She gave us some very useful advice/advices.
7. Did you have nice weather/a nice weather when you were away?
8. We were very unfortunate. We had bad luck/a bad luck.
9. Is it difficult to find a work/job at the moment?
10. Our travel/journey from Paris to Moscow by train was very tiring.
11. When the fire alarm rang, there was total chaos/a total chaos.
12. I had to buy a bread/some bread because I wanted to make some sandwiches.
13. Bad news don’t/doesn’t make people happy.短信息发
14. Your hair is/Your hairs are too long. You should have it/them cut.
15. The damage/The damages caused by the storm will cost a lot to repair.
Part Two: Complete the sentence using the following words. Use the plural where necessary.
1. I didn’t have much _________-- just two small bags.
2. They’ll tell you all you want to know. They’ll give you plenty of ____.
3. There is room for everybody to sit down. There are plenty of _____.
4. We have no _____, not even a bed or a table.
5. ‘What does Alan look like?’‘He’s got a long beard and very short ___.
挨挤6. Carla’s English is better than it was. She’s made ________.
7. Mike is unemployed. He can’t get a __________.
春节用英语怎么写8. Mike is unemployed. He can’t get _______.
9. If you want to leave early, you have to ask for _________.
10. I didn’t know what to do. So I asked Chris for __________.
11. I don’t think Dan should get the job. He doesn’t have enough ______.
12. Nicola has done many interesting things. She could write a book about her _________.
Part Three: What do you say in these situations? Use a word from Part Two in each sentence.
1. Your friends have just arrived at the station. You can’t see any cases or bags.
You ask them:
2. You go into the tourist office. You want to know about places to see in the town.
You say: I’d like
3. You are a student. You want your teacher to advise you about which courses to do.
You say: Can you give me
4. You want to watch the news on TV, but you don’t know when it is on. You ask your friend: What time
5. You are at the top of a mountain. You can see a very long way. It’s beautiful.
You say: It
6. You look out of the window. The weather is horrible: cold, wet and windy.
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