Specific Grammar Exercises/Uncountable Nouns

Academic Writing – useful structures, often wrongly used – Uncountable nouns.

Problem: Students make uncountable nouns plural and/or confuse noun-verb agreement.


Remedy: Learn common uncountable nouns and how to make them countable if required.






Common Examples: (Notice the corresponding singular form of the verbs agreeing with them)



* The news was bad.

* My information is wrong.

* This equipment is faulty.

* This is the only apparatus we were given.

* My advice has been ignored.

* The furniture was damaged.

* The feedback from the survey has been collected.

* That evidence is false!

* That accommodation was unsuitable.

* He has a lot of experience of this kind of work. (The plural is possible but rare.)

* Furniture manufacture brings in much-needed income. (The plural is possible but rare.)

* His research is detailed (The plural is possible but rare.)





Notes: Did you recognize that the verbs are all singular in their agreement. They can be made countable by using “piece of” or “item of” ”, as in “These pieces of evidence are important”. But they are more usually used in the uncountable form.





Guided Practice:


Put suitable words in the following gaps:


* Here _______ the latest news.

Please write your answer here:[ANSWER]

* The apparatus _______ been set out ready for the practical chemistry test. [ANSWER]

* This information _______ given to you last week. [ANSWER]

* He always _______ me bad advice. [ANSWER]

* The teacher's feedback _______ going to be given at the end of the lesson. [ANSWER]

* The research _______ being conducted in Taiwan at the moment. [ANSWER]



When you've written your sentences, scroll down to see if they're the same as the suggested answers............










[ADVERT]

Solutions:


* Here is the latest news.

* The apparatus has been set out for the practical chemistry tense.

* This information was given to you last week.

* He always gives me bad advice.

* The teacher's feedback is going to be given at the end of the lesson.

* The research is being conducted in Taiwan at the moment.





(Notes: If you need help understanding any of these, consult Verb Tense Quiz 1, Verb Tense Quiz 2 and Passive Voice Structures.)






Other uncountables:


Foods or materials: chocolate, cheese, milk, beer, mercury (a metal which is liquid at room temperature), iron, etc. As with the above, these can be made countable.





Guided Practice:


Make the following countable by filling in the gaps with a suitable word:


* He drank a _______ of beer every lunchtime.[ANSWER]

* Give me a _______ of chocolate. [ANSWER]

* There were six news _______ in the bulletin. [ANSWER]

* He put five _______ of mercury in his hand. [ANSWER]

* The gym bought five new _______ _______equipment. [ANSWER]




When you've written your sentences, scroll down to see if they're the same as the suggested answers............









[ADVERT]

Solutions:


* He drank a bottle of beer every lunchtime.

* Give me a piece of chocolate.

* There were six items in the news bulletin.

* He put five drops of mercury in his hand.

* The gym bought five new pieces of equipment.

Photo Album






Language note: There are a number of linking devices highlighted in the following passage. These will be discussed in more detail elsewhere on this site.



The photo shows a number of works of art, displayed in the entrance hall of the museum, which portray a kind of nightmare vision of the future. An ice-cream van has been covered in grafitti; the giant ice-cream cone on the roof has fallen over and spilled its contents over the roof and bonnet of the vehicle. A little boy looks into a sweet dispensing machine inside which there is a giant spider, while nearby there is a policeman in riot gear.


Ironically, he is sitting on a child's rocking horse, thus creating a bizarre and uncomfortable contrast. The horse is moving constantly, rocking back and forth in a kind of perpetual motion. Against the far wall there is a woman who is modelled in the ancient Greek style. Far from being old-fashioned, however, she is texting on her mobile phone, as well as carrying armfuls of shopping bags.



Photo: Banksy exhibition, City Museum in Bristol, South West England.











Do you get it?







Vocabulary:

fishing rod - see picture. What's the man holding?

"Give a man a fish and he can eat for a day. Give him a fishing rod and he can feed himself for life."

And how about this?

"Give a man a fish and he can eat for a day. Give him a fishing rod and you can get rid of him for the whole weekend."

Or this?

"Give a man a fish and he can eat for a day. Give him a fishing rod and you miss a perfectly good business opportunity."

Specific Grammar Exercises/Due to, because of, on account of.

Academic writing - Useful structures: Expressing Cause.

Problem: Students use "due to" + subject + verb.

> Due to he is the managing director, he controls the company's purchases. (X)

Note: The subject of a sentence ("he") can't follow a preposition ("to").





Remedy: Use "due to the fact that" + subject + verb.

> Due to the fact that he is the managing director, he controls the company's purchases.




Or, use due to+ gerund. ("-ing" form)

> Due to being the managing director, he controls the company's purchases.






Correct the following two sentences in both the above ways:



> Due to they were making continual losses, the company went bankrupt.

Please write your answers here:[ANSWER] [ANSWER]


> Due to the company went bankrupt, the shareholders lost their investment. [ANSWER] [ANSWER]





Scroll down the page for the answers.




[ADVERT]










Answers:




> Due to the fact that they were making continual losses, the company went bankrupt.

Or

> Due to making continual losses, the company went bankrupt.

And

> Due to the fact that the company went bankrupt, the shareholders lost all their money.

Or

> Due to the company going bankrupt, the shareholders lost all their money.


Did you have trouble using the gerund in the second example above? Note that the gerund can be paired with a different noun to the subject in the second part of the sentence. Put that noun in front of the gerund. Look at these two examples:


> Due to being rich, he didn't have to work. (Who was rich?)


> Due to his father being rich, he didn't have to work. (Who was rich?)






Notes:




i) "On account of" is used in the same way:

> On account of they use a good advertising agency, the firm's sales have risen. (X) (Correct it using the gerund) [ANSWER]




ii) "Because of" is also used in the same way:

> Because of good quality wood is used in their furniture, it tends to be expensive. (X) (Correct it using the gerund) [ANSWER]




iii) Remove one word from the following sentence to make it correct:


Because of people have lost money, the company has many creditors. [ANSWER]






Scroll down the page for the answers.






[ADVERT]









> On account of using a good advertising agency, the firm's sales have risen.



> Because of good quality wood being used in their furniture, it tends to be expensive.


Did you have trouble? With verbs in the passive voice, just put the verb "to be" in the gerund form.



> Because people have lost money, the company has many creditors.


Note: The subject of a sentence ("people") can't follow a preposition ("of).









Photo album:







Photo: Stone in the wall at the entrance to the old city of Dubrovnik, Croatia, Eastern Europe. People try to stand on top of the head, which is harder than it looks!



Reminder: These sentences describe what you can see in the picture a bit further down the page. Note the linking structures in blue, which are discussed on other pages on this site.

He took his shoes off, so that he could get a better grip on the smooth stone. (linking structure)

He took his shoes off in order to get a better grip on the smooth stone. (infinitive of purpose)

He took his shoes off, enabling him to get a better grip on the smooth stone. (enable + infinitive)



Vocabulary:

grip - "fixed hold", used for hands, feet, shoes, etc. Example: These old shoes have no grip.




.........and to prove you're a "real man", you have to take your shirt off and throw it on the ground!






Do you get it?






.





.

Vocabulary:

duck's bill - see the duck in the picture. It's the yellow bit!

nail - (verb and noun) - small, pointed piece of metal used to fix pieces of wood, hang up pictures, etc.

(stick of) lipstick - see the picture on the right.



A duck goes into a bar and says, "Have you got any bread?"

"No," says the barman, so the ducks walks out.

The next day in comes the duck again and says, "Have you got any bread?"

"No," says the barman again, "we only sell beer", so the duck walks out.

The next day the duck walks in yet again, and asks "Have you got any bread?"

"Listen," says the barman, "This is a public house. We serve ales and spirits, wines and light snacks. Now, if you come in here one more time asking for bread, I'm going to nail your bill to the bar." So the duck walks out.

To the barman's amazement, the next day he comes in again, and says, "Have you got any nails?"

"No," says the barman.

"Have you got any bread?"




And how about this?


A duck goes into a chemist's shop and asks for a stick of lipstick.

"Certainly, Madam," says the chemist.

"Would you like to pay for it now?"

"No," says the duck, "just put it on my bill."