GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

EXERCISES

Countable vs. Uncountable Nouns

Did you know that not all nouns are countable in English? Knowing the difference between countable and uncountable nouns can help you in many areas of English grammar.

Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are nouns that can be counted. Most nouns in English are countable.

Examples:

• I have two dogs.
• Sandra has three cars.
• Jessie has ten dollars.

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns are not counted in English. This usually has to do with the way English speakers think of these nouns. We often picture these nouns as a single concept or one big thing which is hard to divide. Many of these words are countable in other languages, but they ARE NOT countable in English. Generally, we do not use plural forms of these words; however some of these words do end in "s", so don't get confused.

Examples:

• Mack drinks a lot of water.
• Cindy gives great advice.
• Paul enjoys politics. Ends with "s" but uncountable

Uncountable nouns tend to belong to one of the following categories:

Liquids and Gases

• water
• coffee
• milk
• air
• oxygen

Solid and Granular Substances

• wood
• metal
• cheese
• sand
• rice

Energy Words and Forces

• electricity
• sunshine
• radiation
• heat
• magnetism

Subjects

• French
• chemistry
• economics
• science
• math

Grouped Concepts

• fruit
• money
• food
• vocabulary
• news

Information and Abstract Concepts

• information
• advice
• education
• democracy
• intelligence

Uncountable Plurals

Sometimes in English, we do use uncountable nouns in plural forms. This is most commonly done with liquids and substances. It usually takes on the meaning of "cups of", "bottles of" or "types of".

Examples:

• We'll have two coffees. Cups of coffee
• I bought three waters. Bottles of water
• The company produces two leathers. Types of leather

Different Meanings

There are certain words which have multiple meanings. It is possible for one meaning to be countable and the other to be uncountable. Take for example the word "light":

Examples:

• I couldn't see anything because there was no light. Uncountable noun
• The Christmas tree was covered with hundreds of lights. Countable noun

Generally, the rules are still the same. The first use of "light" is a form of energy. The second use of "light" means "small light bulbs", which are normal countable objects.

EXERCISES AND RELATED TOPICS

• Countable vs. Uncountable Nouns Exercise 1

taken from http://www.englishpage.com/minitutorials/countable-uncountable-nouns.htm

USED TO / WOULD

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/quick-grammar/past-habit-used-towouldpast-simple

https://elt.oup.com/student/solutions/upperint/grammar/grammar_02_012e?cc=mx&selLanguage=en

http://www.esl-lounge.com/student/grammar/3g11-used-to-would.php

http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-26509.php

ARTICLES

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 2

EXERCISE 3

EXERCISE 4

Negative prefixes

In English, one way to make negative statements is by adding negative prefixes to nouns, adjectives, and verbs. Here are some English negative prefixes: a–, dis–, il–, im–, in-, ir–, non–, un–.

For example, the prefix un- can be attached to the adjective happy to create the negative adjective unhappy. Or you can use the negative adverb not. Note that there is no difference in meaning between these two forms.

Tom is happy.		Tom is unhappy.		Tom is not happy.

Words that take a– as a negative prefix always begin with a consonant.

affirmative		negative
political		apolitical
sexual		asexual
theist		atheist

Words that take dis– as a negative prefix may begin with a vowel or a consonant.

affirmative		negative
agree		disagree
comfort		discomfort
mount		dismount
orient		disorient

Words that take il– as a negative prefix always begin with the letter l.

affirmative		negative
legal		illegal
legible		illegible
literate		illiterate
logical		illogical

Words that take im– as a negative prefix always begin with the letter m or p.

affirmative		negative
mobile		immobile
moral		immoral
perfect		imperfect
possible		impossible

Words that take in– as a negative prefix can begin with a vowel (except i or u) or a consonant.

affirmative		negative
accurate		inaccurate
eligible		ineligible
organic		inorganic
decent		indecent
sane		insane

Note: There are many words that begin with in– that are not words with a negative prefix. For example:

word		does not mean
incline		not cline
indulge		not dulge
insist		not sist
invoke		not voke

Words that take ir– as a negative prefix always begin with the letter r.

affirmative		negative
rational		irrational
reconcilable		irreconcilable
regular		irregular
resistible		irresistible

Words that take non– as a negative prefix may begin with a vowel or a consonant.

affirmative		negative
conformist		nonconformist
essential		nonessential
fiction		nonfiction
sense		nonsense

Words that take un– as a negative prefix may begin with a vowel or consonant.

affirmative		negative
able		unable
interesting		uninteresting
usual		unusual
comfortable		uncomfortable
helpful		unhelpful
prepared		unprepared

Remember, not all words that appear to have a negative prefix are negative.

word		does not mean
alike		not like
discuss		not cuss
universe		not iverse
illuminate		not luminate
important		not portant
involve		not volve
irrigate		not rigate

1. legal: There is no doubt that cannabis will remain an ______________ drug for the foreseeable future.
2. possible: It was quite _________________ for us to drive all the way from Paris to Madrid in one day.
3. successful: He made an ________________ attempt to climb the highest mountain in the range.
4. responsible: To take the boat out with four children under the age of ten and with no life jackets on board was quite ________________ of him.
5. appropriate: The dress she was wearing was quite _________________ for the occasion.
6. polite: It was very ________________ of him to insult his mother in front of his aunt.
7. religious: They were a completely _________________ family and I never thought that one day I would marry one of the daughters.
8. honest: As a politician he was __________________ and it was not long before nobody trusted him.
9. perfect: The goods were ________________ and had to be returned to the store we bought them from.
10. contented: She was __________________ with her life and decided that things had to change.

Go to answers

Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4