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B1 English Course. Unit 1.

Index Theory: Countable and uncountable nouns Theory: Quantity Practice: Countable and uncountable nouns Practice: Quantifiers

Practice: Simple tenses revision

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B1 English Course.

Countable and uncountable nouns

Countable nouns can be either singular or plural:

A friend/ two friends One book/ five books

Uncountable nouns cannot have a plural, and are not used with a/an. They cannot be counted. It is possible to say some rice, but not a rice, or two rices. Some water; a bit of water; lots of water One water; one bottle of water One bowl of rice

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B1 English Course.

Example list of uncountable nouns:

Advice Information News Furniture
Milk Water Rice Sugar Money Wine

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B1 English Course.

Uncountable nouns
Abstract nouns such as importance, luck, happiness, or advice are usually uncountable A piece of advice; Lots of luck; much happiness Some nouns can have both countable and uncountable meanings COFFEE PAPER Have some coffee! (uncountable) She had three coffees (countable)

I havent got any more paper (uncountable) They submitted their papers (countable)
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B1 English Course.

Quantity
Some, Any can be both used with countable and uncountable nouns. There are some birds on that tree. (Countable) There is not any water on the floor. (Uncountable)

Much is used with uncountable nouns I havent got much money You drink too much wine Many is used with countable nouns There are many students in this class How many hours do you work per week?

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B1 English Course.

Quantity
A lot of and lots of are used either with countable or uncountable nouns A lot of students came to the meeting Hes got lots of money Little is used with uncountable nouns I added a little salt on the steak He gave little importance to that matter A few is used with countable nouns A few people visited him Shes got a few papers to hand in today
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B1 English Course.

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Countable and uncountable nouns

1. Put these nouns into the correct column below. Give the plural form of the countabl Beef Magazine CD player Shampoo
Potato toothpaste Countable Sigular Stamp Countable Plural Stamps Uncountable Singular only Beef Bread Grape Meat

B1 English Course.

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Countable and uncountable nouns

2. Read sentences a-e. Indicate which words or phrases show quantity and say if the nouns are countable or uncountable. Example: There are also some items form Asia and South America. (COUNTABLE) a. There are only a few different types of things to buy

b. How much money would you spend on them?

c. There are many different ideas to choose from d. Have you got any gifts you dont want?

e. There are lots of good travel websites around.

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B1 English Course.

Countable and uncountable nouns

3. Fill the gaps with a correct quantifier. More than one possibility can be a possible option. THE SUCCESS OF
There are ...............( ) popular websites today and ...............( ) are more successful than others. One of the most well known is eBay. Its creator to set up a page in which to sell things to whoever paid the most. The idea was very successful and he was soon making ...............( ) of money. The company has an excellent service. Its creator introduced a rating system. Customers were asked o spend a ...............( ) time describing the service they got from others. Today, millions of people use this page. A ...............( ) of items have been sold at high prices, including a rare baseball card sold for 1.2 million dollars. There arent ...............( ) other websites that can rival eBay.
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B1 English Course.

Grammar practice: present simple and present continuous

3. Read this advert for a language school and fill the gaps using the present simple or continuous and the verbs in parenthesis.

........... (think) about studying English? Then come and study in one of Britains most exciting towns! At the Brigton School of English we ........... (teach) courses at all levels, from beginner to advanced. Most of our courses are part time, but currenty we ........... (offer) a new full-time course in August. All our teachers ........... (are) well qualified, and lessons are fun and lively . Right now we ........... (recruit) more teachers from Britain and the US.
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La Universidad en Internet

B1 English Course.

Grammar practice: present simple and present continuous

Brightons attractions ............ (include) historic buildings such as the Royal Pavilion, Brighton Pier and an area of interesting and original shops known as The Lanes. Every weekend we ..........(take) students hiking and horse-riding in the beautiful countryside nearby. In addition, this year we .......... (organising) weekend trips to London. Please phone or e-mail for more information.
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