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Unit 71 · Articles and nouns

Countable nouns with a/an and some

Study

A

Countable nouns can be singular or plural:

a **dog** a **child** the **evening** this **party** an **umbrella**
**dogs** some **children** the **evenings** these **parties** two **umbrellas**

Before singular countable nouns you can use a/an:

›

Bye! Have a nice evening.

›

Do you need an umbrella?

You cannot use singular countable nouns alone (without a/the/my etc.):

›

She never wears a hat. (not wears hat)

›

Be careful of the dog.

›

What a beautiful day!

›

Did you hurt your leg?

B

We use a/an … to say what kind of thing something is, or what kind of person somebody is:

›

That's a nice table.

In the plural we use the noun alone (not some …):

›

Those are nice chairs. (not some nice chairs)

Compare singular and plural:

A dog is **an animal**. Dogs are **animals**.
I'm **an optimist**. We're **optimists**.
My father is **a doctor**. My parents are both **doctors**.
Jane is **a really nice person**. Jane and Ben are **really nice people**.
What **a lovely dress**! What **awful shoes**!

We say that somebody has a long nose / a nice face / blue eyes / long fingers etc. :

Jack has a long **nose**. (not the long nose) Jack has **blue eyes**. (not the blue eyes)

We use a/an when we say what somebody's job is:

›

Sandra is a nurse. (not Sandra is nurse)

›

Would you like to be an English teacher?

C

You can use some with plural countable nouns. We use some in two ways.

(1) some = a number (of) / a few (of) / a pair (of):

›

I've seen some good movies recently. (not I've seen good movies)

›

Some friends of mine are coming to stay at the weekend.

›

I need some new sunglasses. (= a new pair of sunglasses)

Often you can say the same thing with or without some. For example:

›

I need (some) new clothes.

›

The room was empty apart from a table and (some) chairs.

Do not use some when you are talking about things in general (see Unit 75):

›

I love bananas. (not some bananas)

›

My aunt is a writer. She writes books. (not some books)

(2) some = some but not all:

›

Some children learn very quickly. (but not all children)

›

Tomorrow there will be rain in some places, but most of the country will be dry.

Exercises (4)

0/4 exercises checked
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71.1

What are these things? Choose from the box and write a sentence.

bird(s)flower(s)game(s)insect(s)language(s)planet(s)river(s)tool(s)vegetable(s)
  1. 1
    an eagle It's .example
  2. 2
    a pigeon, a duck and a penguin They're .example
  3. 3
    carrots and onions They're .
  4. 4
    a tulip It's .
  5. 5
    Earth, Mars and Jupiter They're .
  6. 6
    chess It's .
  7. 7
    a hammer, a saw and a screwdriver They're .
  8. 8
    the Nile, the Rhine and the Mekong They're .
  9. 9
    a mosquito It's .
  10. 10
    Hindi, Arabic and Swahili They're .
71.2

Read about what these people do. What are their jobs? Choose from:

chefinterpreterjournalistnurseplumbersurgeontour guidewaiter
  1. 1A nurse looking after a patient in hospital.
    Sarah looks after patients in hospital. She's .example
  2. 2A waiter serving food to a table in a restaurant.
    Gary works in a restaurant. He brings the food to the tables. He's .
  3. 3Woman writing a newspaper article at a desk
    Jane writes articles for a newspaper. She's .
  4. 4Surgeon operating on a patient in an operating room
    Kevin works in a hospital. He operates on people. He's .
  5. 5Chef cooking in a restaurant kitchen
    Jonathan cooks in a restaurant. He's .
  6. 6Plumber repairing water pipes under a sink
    Dave installs and repairs water pipes. He's .
  7. 7Tour guide explaining a landmark to tourists
    Anna shows visitors round her city and tells them about it. She's .
  8. 8Interpreter helping two people communicate at a meeting
    Lisa translates what people are saying from one language into another, so that they can understand each other. She's .
71.3

Which is right?

  1. 1
    1 Most of my friends are
  2. 2
    2 Are you
  3. 3
    3 I went to the library and borrowed
  4. 4
    4 Mark works in a bookshop. He sells
  5. 5
    5 I've been walking for hours. I've got
  6. 6
    6 I don't feel very well. I've got
  7. 7
    7 What
  8. 8
    8 I met
  9. 9
    9 It might rain. Don't go out
  10. 10
    10
71.4

Put in a/an or some where necessary. If no word is necessary, leave the space empty.

  1. 1
    I've seen good movies recently.example
  2. 2
    Are you feeling all right? Do you have headache?example
  3. 3
    I know lots of people. Most of them are students.
  4. 4
    When I was child, I used to be very shy.
  5. 5
    birds, for example the penguin, cannot fly.
  6. 6
    Would you like to be actor?
  7. 7
    Questions, questions, questions! You're always asking questions!
  8. 8
    I didn't expect to see you. What surprise!
  9. 9
    Do you like staying in hotels?
  10. 10
    Tomorrow is a holiday. shops will be open, but most of them will be closed.
  11. 11
    Those are nice shoes. Where did you get them?
  12. 12
    You need visa to visit countries, but not all of them.
  13. 13
    Kate is teacher. Her parents were teachers too.
  14. 14
    I don't believe him. He's liar. He's always telling lies.