LESSON 2 – COUNTABLE, UNCOUNTABLE AND COLLECTIVE NOUNS Noun classification, Apuntes de Idioma Inglés

¡Descarga LESSON 2 – COUNTABLE, UNCOUNTABLE AND COLLECTIVE NOUNS Noun classification y más Apuntes en PDF de Idioma Inglés solo en Docsity! LESSON 2 – COUNTABLE, UNCOUNTABLE AND COLLECTIVE NOUNS Noun classification • Concrete or Abstract • Collective or Non-collective • Countable or Uncountable Uncountable nouns • A Non-Count Noun is a word which acts as neither singular nor plural. • It doesn’t take a plural ending (-s), even though it takes a plural verb. • It doesn’t appear with an indefinite article. • Names or fields of study or activities (e.g. Physics, Mathematics, football, swimming… ) • N.B. some of these may look plural! • Mass nouns (e.g. wood, sand, beef, glass, etc.) • Abstract nouns (e.g. speed, friendship, justice, etc.) Multiple meanings • Most uncountable nouns cannot take the indefinite article. • Some nouns have different uses as count or non-count (change in reference). • Iron vs. an iron/irons. • Hair vs. a hair/hairs. • Glass vs. a glass/glasses • Room vs. a room/rooms. Non-counts as counts • Partitive: an expression which makes a non-count noun function as a count noun • “a piece of” • “a bit of” • “a glass of” Implicit partitive • In some contexts, a non-count noun may be used with an implicit partitive. • A coffee = a cup of coffee • A water = a glass of water • An ice-cream = a bar of ice cream or an ice cream bar. Modifying nouns • Qualifiers (modify nouns, adjectives or adverbs). • Plural nouns: many, a few/few, a number, several… • Uncountable: (very) much, a great deal of, a little/little… • Both: a lot of, lots of, plenty of… Count nouns • Just as there are non-count nouns which look plural, there are count nouns which do not look plural. • Cattle, people. • See also unmarked plurals (sheeps, fish, deer, etc…) in Lesson 3.