COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE USES OF NOUN

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE USES OF NOUN

UNCOUNTABLE

- have NO PLURAL and can´t be used with a / an

- examples:

• Liquids: milk, water, wine
• Solids(pevné látky): stone, wood, glass, paper (materiály)
• Abstracts: love, anger
• Activities: dancing, educ 414c22e ation, homework
• Others: news, information, advice

-uncountables become countables if we speak about kinds and varieties of things:

• Do you drink wine? × We drank a good wine yesterday.
• Waiter, a beer please. (=sklenice piva)
• Paper should be recycled. × Buy me a paper. (=noviny)
• Light travels at a speed of 300,000 kmps. × I can see a light in the window.
• I hate noise. (=obecně) × I can hear a noise.

-uncountables with a change of meaning:

• Business was good last year. × He has set up a business. (Otevřel si obchod.)
• Do you like gossip? × She´s an old gossip.( klepna)
• Do you need help? × Thanks, you have been a great help.
• She´s got dark hair. × a hair, two hairs on your collar
• Toast (= grilled bread- topinka) × Let´s drink a toast to the happy couple.(přípitek)
• How much work do you have? × a work of art ( umělecké dílo)

1. KNOWLEDGE - znalosti (U)

His information is useful.

-podobná:

• Experience - ve významu zkusenost
• Progress- pokrok
• Research, money, hair, information, advice, luggage, baggage, spaghetti

His knowledge of music is extensive.

How much luggage do you have?

You´ve made great progress.

Research has shown.

2. NEWS - zpráva, zprávy (U)

Here is the news. The news is good today.

The customs is over there.

-podobná:

• Games: darts (sipky), draughts (dáma), billiards
• Illnesses: mumps, measles
• Subjects: physics, maths, economics.
• Plural names: United States is.
• Books: The Canterbury Tales
• Kew Gardens, the customs (celnice)

3. Crossroads (C)

-singulár i plurál

-jed číslo: a crossroads

There is a dangerous crossroads near our house. There are three dangerous crossroads in our city.

-podobná:

• A means of transport, several means of transport
• Works: ironworks (zelezárny), waterworks.
• Barracks, headquarters, series (série), species (druh)

The tiger is an endangered species.

4. STAIRS - schody (schod- step)

- NO SINGULAR !!!

The stairs are steep.

-podobná:

• Goods, clothes, trousers, jeans, shorts, knickers, tights, pyjamas, pants, scissors, glasses, binoculars
• Scales (váha), means (ve výz.finanč.prostředky), wages, customs (celní poplatky!!!), savings (úspory), earnings, outskirts (předměty), surroundings, lodgings (podnájem), lyrics (text písně)

5. COLLECTIVE NOUNS - jednotka, skupina

The average family is smaller now. (jednotka) × The family are sitting around the table. (jednotliví členové)

The government consists. × The government are arguing.

-podobné:

• Army, audience, public, crowd, company, committee, crew, government, class, stuff, team

×

-pouze v mnozném

• Police, youth, cattle + plural verbs !!!

The police are looking for him.

-chicken:

• We don´t sell chicken (= maso). (U)  Would you like some chicken? ( = portion- porce) (U)
• A chicken in the garden. (kuře- s nozičkama !!!)

6. SHEEP, FISH, AIRCRAFT

-SINGULÁR I PLURÁL

-pořád mají tvar mnozného čísla = nepřibírají koncovku

He´s the black sheep of the family. The sheep are grazing on the hillside.

We often have fish for the dinner.  He´s caught five fish.

CHANGING UNCOUNTABLES INTO COUNTABLES:

-a piece of advice  -an item of news (polozka) -a flight of stairs

-a sheet of paper  -a lump of coal, sugar (hrudka) -a head of hair

-three slices of toast  -a set of cuttlery (sada příborů) -a blade of grass (stéblo)

-a clap (a crash) of thunder  -three flashes of lightening -a pair of scissors, trousers

-a loaf of bread  -a bar of soap, chocolate -a second helping of potatoes

-a second portion of chicken (u masa)

Irregular plurals

• Men, women, children, foot-feet, tooth- teeth, mouse-mice, louse-lice(ves), ox-oxen(vůl), goose-geese,wife-wives, radios, potatoes, tomatoes

Nationality words

• An adjective: = Language - Czech, German, Swiss, Japanese, Chinese, Polish, English, Dutch, Swedish

-He´s Italian / French / Danish/ Finish /English ←příd.jméno

• A person from the country: a Frenchman, an Englishman, a Dutchman, an Irishman, a Swede, a Finn, a Czech, a German,  a Spaniard, a Dane, a Greek
• The whole nation: the English, the Irish, the Japanese, the Swiss, the British, (the) Czech, (the) Germans,

Danes / the Danish, Swedes / the Swedish, Poles, the Polish

PLURAL EXPRESSIONES WITH SINGULAR VERBS:

-při vyjádření celku:

Where is THAT five pounds you owe me?

I´d like to stay ANOTHER three days.

The bus comes EVERY ten minutes.

Twenty miles IS a long way to go.

I´ve been waiting A good twenty minutes.

EXPRESSIONES JOINED BY AND

Fish and Chips IS getting more expensive.

The Stars and Stripes (am.vlajka) IS the national flag of the USA.

A LOT /THE MAJORITY

-řídíme se podst.jménem stojícím za těmito výrazy → SG i PL

A lot of water (sg.) was wasted.

A lot of people( pl.) are waiting outside.

The majority of the damage (skod- sg.) was caused by the floods (povodněmi).

The majority of the students (pl.) are foreigners.

COMPOUNDS- slozeniny:

Mother- in - law → mothers - in- law

Fellow- student → fellow - students

Forget - me- not(pomněnka) → forget- me- nots

You need some experience. How much luggage do you have? Where is the customs? He needs a new pair of trousers. The tiger is an endangered species. The headquarters of NATO is in Brussels. The public welcome(s) the news. Which (What) is the fastest means of transport? You have been a great help. Her savings have been stolen. Have the police been called? This steelworks was built a hundred years ago. I can´t pay another 5,000 crowns. The surroundings of this village are beautiful. We often have fish for the dinner. There is  a Dutchman and a Swede in our school. They are Swiss but they speak Italian. Put the photographs on those shelves. Economics is complicated think. There is some beautiful countryside near here.