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A carton of milk, a piece of information, etc
a carton of milk two tins of soup kilo of sugar a piece/slice of bread a loaf of bread Milk, soup, etc are uncountable nouns. We cannot use a or a number in front of them. We do not usually say a milk or two soups. But we can say a carton of milk or two tins of soup. Here are some more examples.
a tin of paint
a bottle of water a box/packet of cereal a jar of jam a tube of toothpaste a glass of water a cup of coffee We can also use this structure with a plural noun after of. a packet of crisps a box of matches three kilos of potatoes a collection of pictures B A piece of information Advice, information and news are uncountable nouns. We cannot use them with a/an or in the plural. Can I give you some advice? not We got some information from the tourist office, not But we can use piece of, bit of and item of. Can I give you a piece of/a bit of advice? There are two pieces/bits of information we need to complete the questionnaire. There's a bit of /an item of news that might interest you. These nouns are uncountable in English, although they may be countable in other languages: accommodation, baggage, behaviour, equipment, fun, furniture, homework, housework, litter, luck, luggage, progress, rubbish, scenery, traffic, travel, weather, work Some countable nouns have similar meanings to the uncountable nouns above. COUNTABLE There aren't any jobs. It's a long journey. There were sofas and chairs for sale. We've booked a room. I've got three suitcases. UNCOUNTABLE There isn't any work. Travel can be tiring. There was furniture for sale. We've booked some accommodation. I've got three pieces of luggage.
77 Exercises 1 A carton of milk (A) What did Tom buy at the supermarket? Use of. Milk 0.35 Milk 0.35 ► two cartons of milk 1 kilo flour 0.85 ► a kilo of flour Jam 0.95 1 Matches 0.39 2 Bread 0.65 3 Bread 0.65 4 Chocolate 0.95 5 5 kilos potatoes 1.59 6 Breakfast cereal 1.38 7 Mineral water 0.74 8 Mineral water 0.74 Toothpaste 0.89 Total £10.48 2 Countable and uncountable nouns (B) Complete the sentences. Put in a/an or some. I really ought to do some housework. The people who camped in the field have left............ . I've been working on the business plan. I've made .
You'll have to pay extra for the taxi because you've got ... I can't possibly fit this guitar into . suitcase. You need . luck to win at this game. rubbish. progress. .. accommodation. luggage. 3 Countable and uncountable nouns (B) You are talking about the holiday you had with a friend. Use these words: accommodation, awful journey, beautiful scenery, chair, fun, good weather, meal. You have to decide whether you need to put a/an or not. ? (It was quite easy to book a place to stay.) ? (There was nothing to sit on in your room.) But my room wasn't very nice. It didn't even have a chair in it. 1 (You were in a beautiful part of the country.) It was a lovely place, though. There was............................................ all around us. 2 (The weather was good.) And we had ........................... while we were there. 3 (One evening you went to a restaurant with some other people.) One evening we had......................................................... with some people we met. 4 (You enjoyed yourselves at the disco.) We went to a disco. We had ........................ there. 5 (Travelling home was awful.) We had ....................................................... home last Saturday. Date: 2014-12-22; view: 2483
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