69. Countable and uncountable 1
70. Countable and uncountable 2
Many nouns can be used as countable or uncountable nouns, usually with a difference in meaning
Countable | Uncountable |
---|---|
Did you hear a noise just now? | I can’t work here. There’s too much noise. (= noise in general) |
I bought a paper to read. (= a news paper) | I need some paper to write on. (= material for writing on) |
Coffee / tea / juice / beer etc. (drinks) are normally uncountable:
But you can say a coffee (= a cup of coffee), two coffees (= two cups) etc.
The following nouns are usually uncountable:
accommodation | behaviour | damage | luck | permission | traffic |
advice | bread | furniture | luggage | progress | weather |
baggage | chaos | information | news | scenery | work |
You cannot use a/an with these nouns:
- I’m going to buy some bread. or … a loaf of bread. (not a bread)
- Enjoy your holiday! I hope you have good weather. (not a good weather)
These nouns are not usually plural (so we do not say ‘breads’, ‘furnitures’ etc.)
- Where are you going to put all your furniture? (not firnotures)
- Let me know if you need more information. (not informations)
News is uncountable, not plural:
The news was very depression. (not The news were)
Travel (noun) means ‘travelling in general’ (uncountable). 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. (not a good travel)
Compare these countable and uncountable nouns:
Countable | Uncountable |
---|---|
I’ m looking for a job. | I’m looking for work. (not a work) |
What a beautiful view! | What beautifl scenery! |
It’s a nice day today. | It’s nice weather today. |
We had a lot of bags and cases. | We had a lot of baggage / luggage. |
These chairs are mine. | This furniture is mine. |
That’s a good suggestion. | This’s good advice. |
71. Countable nouns with a/an and some
We also say (go to) the doctor / the dentist:
Clare isn’t very well. She’s gone to the doctor. (= her usual doctor)
I don’t like going to the dentist.
72. A/an and the
We also say (go to) the doctor / the dentist
73. The 1
We use the when there is only one of something:
Have you ever crossed the equator? (there is only one equator)
Our aparement is on the tenth floor.
We use the before same (the same):
We say:
the sun | the moon | the earth | the world | the universe |
the sky | the sea | the ground | the environment | the internet |
We also use ‘Earth’ (without the) when we think of it as a planet in space (like Mars, Jupiter etc).
Which planet is nearest Earth?
We say space (without the) when we mean ‘space in the universe’.Comare
- There are millions of stars in space. (not in the space)
- I tired to park my car, but the space was too small.
We say: (go to) the cinema, the theatre
When we say the cinema / the theatre, we do not necessarily mean a specific cinema of theatre.
We usually say the radio, but television / TV (without the.)
The television / the TV = the television, please?
We do not normally use the with breakfast / lunch / dinner:
But we use a/an if we say ‘a big lunch’, ‘a wonderful dinner’, ‘an early breakfast’ etc.
We do not use the before noun + number. For example:
- Our train leaves from Platform 5. (not the Platform 5)
- (in a shop) Do you have these shoes in size 43? (not the size 43)
In the same way, we say: Room 126(in a hotel), page 29(of a book), question 3(in an exam), Gate 10(at an airport) etc.
74. The 2 (school / the school etc.)
We use prision (or jail), hospital, university, college and church in a similar way, We do not use the when we are thinking of the general ideal of these places and what they are used for
With most other place, you need the. For example, the station, the cinema. (see Unites 72C and 73 C)
We say go to bed / be in bed etc. (not the bed)
- I’m going to bed not. Goodnight
- Do you ever have breakfast in bed?
- but. I sat down on the bed. (a specific piece of furniture)
go to work / be at work / start work / finish work etc. (not the work)
go home / come home / arrive home / get home / be at home etc.
We say go to sea / be at sea (without the) when the meaning is ‘go / be on a voyage’
- Keith works on ship. He’s at sea most of the time.
but
- I’d like to live near the sea.
- It can be angerous to swim in the sea.
75. The 3 (children / the children)
When we are talking about thing or people in general, we do not use the:
I’m afraid of dogs. (not the dogs)
We say ‘most people / most books / most cars’ etc. (not the most …):
We use the when we mean specific things or people
The difference between ‘something in general’ and ‘something specific’ is not always very clear.
76. The 4 (the giraffe / the telephone / the piano etc.; the + adjective)
The giraffe is the tallest of all animals.
In these examples, the… does not mean one specific thing.
The giraffe = a specific type of animal, not a specific giraffe.
We use the in this way to talk about a type of animal, machine etc.
In the same way we ise tje fpr musical instruments:
Can you play the guitar?
Note that we use man (= human beings in general / the human race) without the:
What do you know about the origins for man? (not the man)
The + nationality
You can use the + nationality adjectives that end in -ch or -sh (the French / the English / the Spanish etc.). The meaning is ‘the people of that country’:
The French are famous for their food. (= the people of France)
The French / the English etc. are plura; in meaning. We do not say ‘a French / an English’. You have to say a Frenchman / an Englishwoman etc.
We also use the + nationality words ending in -ese (the Chinese / the Sudanese / the Japanese etc.).
The Chinese invented printing.
But these words can also be singular (a Chinese, a japanese etc.)
Note also: a Swiss(singular) and the Swiss (= the people of Switzerland)
With other nationalities, the plural noun ends in -s, For example:
- an Italian -> Italians
- a Mexican -> Mexicans
- a Turk -> Turks
With these words (Italians etc.) we do not normally use the to talk about the people in general (see Unit 75)
77. Names with and without the 1
We do not use the with names of people (‘Helen’, ‘Helen Taylor’ etc.). In the same way, we do not use the with most names of places. For examples:
countinents | Africa (not not the Africa), Europe, South America |
countries, states etc. | France (not the France), Japan, Brazil, Texas |
islands | Sicily, Bermuda, Tasmania |
cities, towns etc | Cairo, New York, Bangkok |
mountains | Everest, Etna, Kilimajaro |
But we use the in names with Republic, Kingdom, States etc.
- the Czech Republic
- the United Kingdom (the UK)
- the Dominican Republic
- the United States of America (the USA)
When we use Mr/Mrs/Captain/Doctor etc. + a name, we do not use the.
Mr Johnson / Doctor Johnson
We use Mount (= mountain) and Lake before a name in the same way (without the):
Mount Everest (not the…)
We use the with the names of oceans, seas, rivers and canals:
the Red Sea, the Amazon
We use the with the names of deserts:
the Sahara (Desert) / the Gobi Desert
We use the with plural names of people and places:
people | the Taylors (= the Taylor family) |
countries | the Netherlands |
groups of islands | the Canaries |
mountain ranges | the Rocky Mountains |
We say:
- the north (of Brazil) but northrtn Brazil (without the)
- the south-east (of Spani) but south-eastern Spain
Also the Middle East, the Far East
We also use north / south etc. (without the) in the names of some regions and countries:
North America, South Africa
Note that on maps, the is not usually included in the name.
78. Names with and without the 2
Names without the
We do not use the with names of most city streets / roads / squares / parks etc.
Fifth Acenus / Hyde Park / Queens Road
Names of important public buildings and institutions (for example, airports, stations, universities) are often two words:
Manchester Airport / Harvard University
The first word is the name of a place (‘Manchester’) or a person (‘Harvard’). These names are usually without the. In the same way, we say:
Canterbury Cathedral / Buckingham Palace
Compare:
Buckingham Palace (not the…) but the Royal Palace
(‘Royal’ is an adjective - it is not a name like ‘Buckingham’.)
Most other building have nameswoth the. For example:
hotels | the Sheration Hotel. the Holiday Inn |
theatres / cinemas | the palace Theatre, the Odeon(ciname) |
museums / galleries | the Guggenheim Museum, the National Gallery |
other / buildings | the Empire State(Building), the White House, the Eiffel Tower |
We often leave out the noun:
the Sheraton(Hotel) / the Palace(Theatre)
Some names are only the + noun, for example:
the Acropolis / the Lremlin / the pentagon
Names with of usually have the, for example:
the Bank of England / the Museum of Modern Art / The Tower of London
Note that we say:
the University of Cambridge. but Cambridge University. (without the)
Many shops, restaurants, hotels, banks etc. are named after people, These names end in -‘s or -s We do not use the with these names:
McDonald’s (not the…) / Barclays(bank) / Joe’s Diner(restaurant) / Macy’s(department store)
Churches are often named after saints (St = Saint):
St John’s Church (not the St Johns Church) / St Patrick’s Cathedral
Most newsoaoers and many organisations have names with the:
newspaper | the Washington Post, the Financial Times, the Sun |
organisations | the European Union, the BBC, the Red Cross |
Names of companies, airlines etc. are usually without the:
Fiat(not the Fiat) / Sony / IBM / Kodak
79. singular and plural
Sometims we use a plural noun for one thing that has two parts.
Some nouns end in -ics, but are not usually plural. For example:
athletics | economics | electronics | gymnastics |
maths (= methematics) | physics | politics |
News is not plural (see Unit 70B)
Some words ending in -s can be singular or plural. For example.
means | a means of transport | many means of transport |
series | a television series | two television series |
species | a pecies of bird | 200 species of bird |
Some singular nouns are often used with a plural verb. For example:
audience | committee | company | family | firm | government | staff | team |
These nouns are all groups of people. We often think of them as a number of people (= they). not as one thing (= it). So we often use a plural verb:
- The government (= they) have decided to increase taxes.
- They staff at the company (= they) are not happy with their working conditions.
In the same way, we often use a plural verb after the name of a sports team or a company:
- Italy are playing Brazil next Sunday. (in a football match)
- Shell have increased te price of petrol.
A singular verb (The government wans…. / Shell has… etc) is also possible.
We use a plural verb with police.
Note that we say a police officer / a policeman / a policewoman(not a police)
We do not often use the olural of person (‘persons). We normally use people (a plural word)
We think of a sum of money, a period of time, a distance etc. as one thing. So we use a singular verb.
- Fifty thousand pounds (= it) was stolen in the robbery. (not were stolen)
- Three years (= it) is a long time to be without a job. (noto Three years are)
- Two miles isn’t very far to walk.
80. Noun + noun (a tennis ball / a headache)
You can use two together (noun + noun) to mean one thing / person / idea etc. For example.
a tennis ball / income tax / the city centre
The first noun is like an adjective. It tells us what kind of thing / person / idea etc. For example.
a tennis ball = a ball used to play tennis
Compare:
- garden vegetables (= vegetables that are grown in a garden)
- a vegetable garden (= a garden where vegetables are grown)
Sometimes the first word ends in -ing. Usually these are things we use for doing something:
a frying pan (a pan for frying) / a washing machine
Sometims there are more than two nouns together:
I waited at the hotel reception desk.
Note the difference between:
- a sugar bowl (maybe empty) and a bowl of sugar (= a bowl with sugar in it)
- a shopping bag (maybe empty) and a bag of shopping (= a bag full of shopping)
Whe we use noun + noun, the first noun is like an adjective. It is normally singular, but the meaning is often plural. For example: a bookshop is a shop where you can buy books, an apple tree is a tree that has apples.
Compare:
- It was a fout-week course.
- The course lasted four weeks.
81. -‘s (your sister’s name) and of … (the name of the book)
For things, ideas etc., we normally use of (… of the water / … of the book etc.)
The temperature of the water (not the water’s temperature)
Sometimes the structure noun + noun is possible (see Unit 80):
the water temperature
We say the beginning / end / middle of … / the top/bottom of… / the front/back/side of…
the beginning of the month (not the mouth’s beginning)
You can usually use -‘s or of.. for an organisation (= a group of people). So you can say:
the government’s decision or the decision of the government
It is also possible to use -‘s with time words (yesterday / next week etc.):
the city’s streets / the world’s population / Italy’s prime minister
You can also use -‘s with time words (yesterday / next week etc.)
Do you still have yesterday’s newspaper?
In the same way, you can say today’s tomorrow’s / this evening’s / Monday’s etc.
We also use -‘s (or -s’ with plural words) with periods of time:
- I’ve got a week’s holiday starting on Monday.
- Julia has got three week’s holiday.