44         SUBJECT AREA REVIEWS

1.      George is cooking dinner tonight.

2.      Henry and Marcia have visited the president.

3.      We can eat lunch in this restaurant today.

4.      Pat should have bought gasoline yesterday.

5.      Trees grow.

6.      It was raining at seven o'clock this morning.

7.      She opened a checking account at the bank last week.

8.      Harry is washing dishes right now.

9.      She opened her book.

10.   Paul, William, and Mary were watching television a few minutes ago.

4. THE NOUN PHRASE

The noun phrase is a group of words that ends with a noun. It can contain determiners (the, a, this, etc.), adjectives, adverbs, and nouns. It CANNOT begin with a preposition. Remember that both subjects and complements are generally noun phrases.

COUNT AND NON-COUNT NOUNS

A count noun is one that can be counted.

book—one book, two books, three books, student—one student, two students, three students, . . . person—one person, two people, three people, . A non-count noun is one that cannot be counted.

milk—you cannot say: one milk, two milks

It is possible, however, to count some non-count nouns if the substance is placed in a countable container.

glass ofmilk—one glass of milk, two glasses of milk, . .

                                                                                  GRAMMAR REVIEW       45

Some determiners can be used only with count or non-count nouns, while others can be used with either. Memorize the words in the following chart.

It is very important to know if a noun is count or non-count. Be sure that you know the plurals of irregular count nouns. The following list contains some irregular count nouns that you should know.

The following list contains some non-count nouns that you should know.

*NOTE: Although advertising is a non-count noun, advertisement is a ^COI-¹ nt noun. If you wish to speak of one particular advertisement, you must use this word.

46         SUBJECT AREA REVIEWS

There are too many advertisements during television shows. There is too much advertising during television shows.

Some non-count nouns, such asfood, meat, money, and sand, may be used as count nouns in order to indicate different types.

This is one of the foods that my doctor has forbidden me to eat. (indicates a particular type of food)

He studies meats.

(for example, beef, pork, lamb, etc.)

The word time can be either countable or non-countable depending on the context. When it means an occasion, it is countable. When it means a number of hours, days, years, etc., it is non-countable.

We have spent too much time on this homework. (non-count)

She has been late for class six times this semester. (count)

To decide if a noun that you are not sure of is countable or non-countable, decide if you can say: one  or a For example, you can say "one book," so it is a count noun. You cannot say "one money," so it is not a count noun. Also, of course, by the very nature of non-count nouns, a non-count noun can never be plural. Remember that, while some of the nouns in the list of non-count nouns appear to be plural because they end in -s, they are actually not plural.

Exercise 2: Count and Non-Count Nouns

Identify the following nouns as count nouns or non-count nouns according to their usual meaning.

                                                                                  GRAMMAR REVIEW      47

Exercise 3:

Choose the correct determiners in the following sentences.

I. He doesn't have (many/much) money.

2.      I would like (a few/a little) salt on my vegetables.

3.      She bought (that/those) cards last night.

4.      There are (less/fewer) students in this room than in the next room.

5.      There is (too much/too many) bad news on television tonight.

6.      I do not want (these/this) water.

7.      This is (too many/too much) information to learn.

8.      A (few/little) people left early.

9.      Would you like (less/fewer) coffee than this?

10.   This jacket costs (too much/too many).

A AND AN

A or an can precede only singular count nouns; they mean one. They can be used in a general statement or to introduce a subject which has not been previously mentioned.

      A baseball is round.                      (general—means all baseballs)

        I saw a boy in the street.                   (We don't know which boy.)

An is used before words that begin with a vowel sound. A is used before words that begin with a consonant sound.

                                               a book        an apple

Some words can be confusing because the spelling does not indicate the pronunciation.

a house (begins with a consonant sound) an hour (begins with a vowel sound) a university (begins with a consonant sound) an umbrella (begins with a vowel sound)