Determiners - The Communicative Grammar of English Workbook

The Communicative Grammar of English Workbook (2013)

UNIT FOUR. Determiners

4.1. Count and non-count nouns

Sections 57–69; 510; 597–601

Count nouns are so called because they can be counted individually, e.g.house, pen, etc.

Non-count nouns refer to things which cannot be counted individually, e.g. water, wood, etc.

Group nouns refer to a set or collection of count nouns, e.g. a set of tools.

Unit nouns subdivide non-count nouns into separate pieces, e.g. a piece of paper.

Task one **

Match the group nouns in column A with the objects in column B, e.g. a gang of thieves

A

B

set

wolves

clump

fish

herd

sheep

crowd

keys

pack

chairs

swarm

cows

flock

trees

stack

clothes

bundle

people

shoal

bees

Task two **

Match the unit nouns in column A with the appropriate objects in column B, e.g. a bowl of rice

A

B

blade

bread

lump

wine

cup

hay

sheet

sugar

slice

string

load

grass

block

cake

pile

paper

length

tea

bottle

dust

piece

ice

Task three **

Decide which of the following are count nouns and which are non-count nouns. There are some which can be either. So make three columns.

advice

education

money

bank

engineer

news

behaviour

fruit

night

book

furniture

progress

butter

group

quarrel

carrot

homework

scenery

ceramic

industry

shopping

cheese

information

variety

clothing

joke

work

conduct

language

year

Task four **

Complete the following texts with an appropriate group or unit noun.

1.The room was a mess. There was a (1) of paper on the floor, some empty (2) of wine by the desk and (3) of food scattered all over the room.

2.The picture shows a (4) of sheep sheltering from the storm by a (5) of trees. In the distance the storm is clearing and the sun is shining through a (6) of clouds.

3.“Tea or coffee?”
“Oh, a (7) of tea, please.”
“And a (8) of cake?
“No, thank you.”

4.Foot and mouth disease has meant that (9) of cattle and many (10) of sheep have had to be destroyed. This is especially so in the Lake District in the north-west of England. Many farmers have seen years of hard work destroyed overnight.

Task five **

Complete the text by selecting an appropriate noun from those below. Decide whether it should be singular or plural and whether the verb in brackets should be singular or plural.

advice, education, engineer, experience, help, information, language, management, method, situation, skill, transportation, variety, weather, work

The (1) we have at the moment (2. Be) very unclear. We know that the (3) that (4. Need) to be done will require a (5) of (6) which (7. Need) to come from many sources. We require (8) who (9. Have) worked in developing countries, people with (10) skills and people with (11) in (12).

The (13) for recruiting we have received (14. Have) so far been of little (15). It goes without saying that working in developing countries requires people who are able to take on board cultural differences and accept (16) that often (17. Seem) bizarre.

For our part, we must be able to tell people:

What the (18) (19. Be) like. How the seasons are defined.

What (20) (21. Be) like, road, rail and telephone.

What the level of (22) (23. Be), so we can use the appropriate teaching (24).

(adapted from memo on recruiting for World Bank contracts in Indonesia)

Task six **

Read through the following paragraphs and decide whether the nouns are countable or uncountable as they are used. Then make a list of those that can be used as both.

Vienna feeds upon its past, a fond and sustaining diet, varied with chocolate cake or boiled beef with potatoes (Franz Josef’s favourite dish), washed down with the young white wine of the Vienna Woods, digested and re-digested, and ordered once more, over, and over, and over again … If it reminds me sometimes of Beijing, sometimes it suggests to me the sensations of apartheid in South Africa. The city is obsessed and obsessive. Every conversation returns to its lost greatness, every reference somehow finds its way to questions of rank, or status, or historical influence. Viennese romantics still love to wallow in the tragic story of Crown Prince Rudolf and his eighteen-year-old mistress Marie Vetsera, ‘the little Baroness’, who died apparently in a suicide pact in the country house of Mayerling in 1889. The tale precisely fits the popular predilections of the city, being snobbish, nostalgic, maudlin and rather cheap. I went out one Sunday to visit the grave of the little Baroness, who was buried obscurely in a village churchyard by the command of Franz Josef, and was just in time to hear a Viennese lady of a certain age explaining the affair to her American guests. ‘But in any case,’ I heard her say without a trace of irony, ‘in any case, she was only the daughter of a bourgeois …’

I often saw that same lady waiting for a tram, for she is a familiar of Vienna. She often wears a brown tweed suit, and is rather tightly clamped around the middle, and pearled very likely, and she never seems to be encumbranced, as most of us sometimes are, with shopping bags, umbrellas or toasters she has just picked up from the electrician’s. If you smile at her, she responds with a frosty stare, as though she suspects you might put ketchup on your Tafelspitz, but if you speak to her she lights up with a flowery charm. Inextricably linked with the social absurdity of Vienna is its famous Gemütlichkeit, its ordered cosiness, which is enough to make a Welsh anarchist’s flesh creep: the one goes with the other, and just as it made the people of old Vienna one and all the children of their kind father His Imperial, Royal and Apostolic Majesty, still to this day it seems to fix the attitudes of this city as with a scented glue – sweetly if synthetically scented, like flavours you sometimes taste upon licking the adhesives of American envelopes.

(Jan Morris, Among the Cities, Penguin Books, 1985, pp. 383–384)

4.2. Amount and quantity

Sections 70–81; 675–680; 697–699

Amount words like all, some, none can be used with both count and mass nouns. Amount words can specify more precisely the meaning such as a large quantity, a small quantity and not a large quantity.

Words like all, both, every, each and sometimes any carry a general or inclusive meaning.

Task one **

Consider the scale of amounts where all is the most inclusive and no(ne) is the most negative and organise the statements below so that 1 is the most inclusive and the highest figure is the most negative. Some items will have the same score. Also indicate whether they show whether the amount word is a determiner (D) or a pronoun (P).

1.There are some great artisan ateliers hidden in Treviso’s backstreets.

2.All the candidates spent the day hustling for votes.

3.I’d like to welcome everyone here and thank you all for giving up your time.

4.Anyone you ask is bound to know the way.

5.Nothing I said could tempt her to tell us what she knew about the candidates.

6.There are few things more tedious than hearing other people blaring into their mobiles.

7.He read every scientific paper he could find on cheese, immersing himself in the finer points of microbiology.

8.Although many of us stay fit and healthy well into our eighties and nineties, the risk of suffering some sort of health problem increases with age.

9.This booklet aims to answer most of your questions about Capital Bonds.

10.Each of the so-called multi-modal studies are “looking at some of the severe transport problems around the country”.

Task two **

Explain the (possible) difference of meaning in the pairs of sentences below. Say if two sentences have the same basic meaning.

1.The manager gave all the staff a week’s holiday.

The manager gave each of the staff a week’s holiday.

2.Some of the students could easily pass the exam.

Any of the students could easily pass the exam.

3.Either date will be all right.

Neither date will be all right.

4.Either date will be suitable.

Both dates will be suitable.

5.He couldn’t remember some of their names.

He couldn’t remember any of their names.

6.There are few books I’d like to read again.

There are a few books I’d like to read again.

7.Speak to each of my parents about it.

Speak to either of my parents about it.

8.Will he tell us whether he agrees with everything he said 17 years ago?

Or indeed whether he agrees with anything he said 17 years ago?

9.Neither of us could help him.

None of us could help him.

10.You can see him any Sunday morning walking by the canal.

You can see him every Sunday morning walking by the canal.

Task three **

Households with selected consumer durables: by type of household, 1999–00 (percentages) – National Statistics – Social Trends – 2001 ed.

images

With reference to the chart above complete the sentences below with the most suitable amount expressions: all, few, a few, half, little, a little, the majority of, majority of, many, most, much, none, several, some

1.………… homes with one adult with children had television.

2.………… homes with one adult had a dishwasher.

3.………… homes with two or more adults had a computer, but not all.

4.Only ………… households had a dishwasher.

5.Not ………… households with one adult had satellite TV.

6.A large ………… households with two or more adults had a video recorder.

7.………… families of two adults with children have a video recorder.

8.Just over ………… the households of one adult with children have a tumble dryer.

9.A ………… households of two adults have a microwave.

10.Overall ………… households were without a telephone.

Task four ***

Television viewing and radio listening by age and gender, 1999 (hours per week) – National Statistics – Social Trends – 2001 ed.

images

With reference to the chart above and the chart in Task three complete the text below with appropriate amount words.

The figures show the number of hours per person by age and gender per week spent watching television and listening to the radio. As you can see ………(1)…….. time among 4–15 year olds of both genders was spent listening to the radio. A ………(2)…….. time was spent watching television by older people which reflects the fact that a ………(3)…….. older people own a television. However, a ………(4)…….. the television watched by those over 65 consisted of news programmes, whereas only a ………(5)…….. of those under 15 watched these. A ………(6)…….. of time was spent watching TV by women between the ages of 45 and 54.

The survey also showed the variations across the country. ………(7)…….. time spent watching television was in the Scotland BBC region. This was almost five hours more than the time spent by those in the South of England. Generally men spent ………(8)…….. their time listening to the radio. This was possibly because they did so in the car on their way to and from work.

Overall, there was ………(9)…….. of difference between the age groups at either end of the scale, but among those between the ages of 25 and 54, there was only ………(10)…….. difference.

4.3. The use of the article

Sections 82–90; 448; 475; 579; 597; 641; 747

Task one ***

Underline the definite articles, the indefinite articles and the places where zero article has been used in the texts opposite. Then list rules for their use in the table opposite. Ignore proper nouns.

1.The owner of a pet shop in Leeds saved the life of a lizard by giving it mouth-to-mouth resuscitation after it choked on a locust. (Metro, 21 June 2001)

2.Stolen property recovered by police in Sandwell, West Midlands, is to be sold on the internet to raise money to increase the number of bobbies on the beat. (Sandwell Chronicle, 15 June 2001)

3.The outbreak of foot and mouth disease was detected in England on February 20. Since then the disease has spread in the U.K. in an explosive manner. By March 2, the disease had been found in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The virus causes foot and mouth disease only in hoofed animals, but may cause a transient infection in horses and people. Hoofed animal species include cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, reindeer and elks. The disease causes no risk for humans. (Finland: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Food and Health Department – Press release, 5 March 2001)

4.With Special Delivery we give you a guarantee that, if we fail to deliver by the guaranteed time, we will refund your money within five days. In cases of lost or damaged items, compensation is based on the loss suffered up to the market value of the item or the compensation level paid for up to £2,500), whichever is the lower. (Royal Mail’s Code of Practice, August 2000)

5.Demos, the independent think tank, is looking for imaginative, experienced and forward looking people to join a growing team and broad-ranging work programme. (Ad. For Demos in New Statesman, 25 June 2001)

images

Task two***

Add any other uses not included in the texts above.

Task three **

Select from the list below the use of the definite article in the following texts.

A:

When the person or thing is generally known.

B:

When the person or thing has been mentioned in the text before.

C:

When the person or thing is defined later.

D:

When the person or thing is unique.

E:

For countries which are a federation of states.

F:

For names of rivers and ranges of mountains.

1.

We are boosting pensioner incomes and meeting the concerns of motorists and hauliers.

2.

Victory for the Queen and Prince Philip!

3.

Turner’s painting “The Crook o’Lune near Lancaster” frames a famous view of the river Lune.

4.

The sun was shining on the sea,

Shining with all his might:

He did his very best to make

The billows smooth and bright –

And this was odd, because it was

The middle of the night.

5.

After a fortnight of glorious indolence staying with friends in a diplomatic suburb of Damascus, I was woken this morning by the sound of Bing, their Filipino manservant, blow-drying my now spotlessly clean rucksack. (W. Dalrymple, From the Holy Mountain, Harper Collins, 1997)

6.

On a hill overlooking the Lune, stands Lancaster Castle. The castle has always been a prison. The prison now houses grade C prisoners.

Task four **

In the following text, all the articles (definite and indefinite) have been removed. Rewrite the text with the appropriate articles. The first one is done for you.

I’d bought the revolver on impulse from morose, tubby man who said he went by name of ‘Lefty’. I gave him story about needing to defend my home from scum who were running around these days. He nodded in sympathetic but slightly bored way. He didn’t care what I was going to do with gun any more than car salesman cares where you plan to drive. All Lefty wanted to do was make sale. He proceeded to describe technical virtues and drawbacks of various models he had on sale. As he talked me through each one, he picked it up and put it in my hand. It was odd feeling. I realised that I had never before touched something which was solely and specifically designed to kill.

(M. Dibdin, Thanksgiving, Faber & Faber, 2000)

Task five **

1.Give reasons for your choice of articles in Task Four.

2.Give reasons for leaving some words governed by zero articles.

Task six ***

In the following text, underline the generic uses of the article (definite article, indefinite article and zero article). Then rewrite the text with alternative articles where possible, if necessary changing the noun from singular to plural or from plural to singular.

Lions, tigers and other big cats

Few creatures are held in such awe as lions, tigers, cheetahs and leopards, which we often call the big cats. These agile predators have strong, razorsharp teeth and claws, muscular bodies and excellent senses. Their beautiful striped and dappled fur camouflages among the trees, allowing them to leap from the shadows to ambush unwary zebras, giraffes and other prey. There are seven kinds of big cats. The tiger is the largest. A fully-grown tiger may measure more than three metres from nose to tail; a fully-grown lion is almost as big.

The first large cats lived 45 million years ago. Many, including the lion, cheetah and leopard still inhabit parts of Africa. Snow leopards dwell in the mountains of Asia. Jaguars are the largest of the big cats in North and South America. They are equally at home swimming in lakes or climbing in trees.

Lions are the only big cats that live in groups, called prides, which may be up to thirty strong. The pride roams over an area of 100 sq. km. or more, depending on the abundance of prey in that area. The large male lion protects the pride’s territory against other prides. The lion also defends the female against other males.

Lions, tigers and other big cats are true carnivores (flesh eaters). Lions usually eat large prey such as antelopes and zebras. One giraffe is often enough to feed a whole pride of lions.

4.4. Other words of definite meaning

Sections 91–101; 521; 619; 667

Other words which signal definite meaning are:

proper nounsSusan, Chicago, Tuesday, etc.

personal pronounsI, we, he, she, it, they, you, etc.

pointer words or demonstrativesthis, that, these, those

Task one *

Complete the following sentences with an article (the, a, an) where necessary.

1.……………. Tom I’m talking about is the person you met last week, not ……………. one who used to be at school with us.

2.……………. Tokyo of today is very different from ……………. one I knew in the seventies.

3.……………. San Juan is an old market town.

4.I’m talking about ……………. San Juan in Puerto Rico not ……………. one in Argentina.

5.He intended at one time to marry ……………. Jenny.

6.……………. Jenny? Which one? He knew two Jennys. There was ……………. Jenny from Australia and then there was ……………. one from Scotland.

7.Oh, I think it was ……………. Scottish Jenny.

8.Can you tell me the way to ……………. Brook Street?

9.Which one? There are three Brook Streets in this area.

10.Oh dear. Is there ……………. Brook Street by the river?

11.Yes.

12.That’s ……………. one I want.

Task two **

Complete the sentences below with an appropriate third person pronoun. Rewrite the sentence where necessary to avoid gender discrimination.

Example: A bank manager has a lot of responsibility. On the one hand ……………. has to be careful with money, but on the other hand, ……………. needs to be flexible enough to help people, especially those with small businesses.

Here, in order to avoid gender discrimination, i.e. a bank manager may be male or female, it is necessary to make the subject plural.

Answer: Bank managers have a lot of responsibility. On the one hand they have to be careful with money, but on the other hand, they need to be flexible enough to help people, especially those with small businesses.

1.……………. adopted the cat of a dying friend and it soon settled in her home.

2.A doctor in the emergency department of a hospital sometimes has to deal with violent patients so ……………. needs police support.

3.His colleagues were very supportive and ……………. helped ……………. through a difficult period.

4.These days a teacher isn’t paid enough money and ……………. often leaves the profession after a few years.

5.…………. was a beautiful yacht and ……………. was very fast. ……………. was expected to win the challenge cup race.

6.Her life was essentially unfulfilled and ……………. crammed it with trivia.

7.Ming, the panda, used to sulk in his cage and ……………. refused to meet his intended wife.

8.……………. were always together in a group known as the clan and ……………. was thought ……………. would never break up.

9.Patrick saw the two children trying to get into the house. ……………. shouted at ……………. and they ran away.

10.Last year Britain lost a lot of tourists. So this year, ……………. is making a big effort to attract them back.

Task three *

In the sentences below, mark those E if the use of the first person pronoun is exclusive and I if it is inclusive.

1.We saw a very good play last night. It was a pity you couldn’t come. □

2.We’ve discussed this problem already, when you were here last week. □

3.We should all support him. He has a difficult job. □

4.We did enjoy meeting them. You would have liked them as well. □

5.He’s never been very friendly with us. So don’t worry. □

6.I suggest we take a vote on that. □

Task four *

Rewrite the following passage in an informal manner, avoiding the passive, and using they, you, people and contractions such as it’s, isn’t.

One shouldn’t take it for granted that one will be admitted to a top university simply because one has been to the right school. It is said that, on occasion, one can be rather disadvantaged if one has been to certain schools. It is said that colleges like to have a balance of scholars from different backgrounds. So if one’s background group is full, nothing can be done.

Task five **

Indicate whether the pointer words (this, that, these, those, here, now, then, there) are forward (F) or backward (B) pointing or (S) situational.

1.I want you to listen to this. It’s very important. □

2.I quite agree. That goes without saying. □

3.I tried to explain, but that was a mistake. □

4.Here is an important announcement. Will Dr Keiko Suzuki please call at the information desk immediately? □

5.John: There’ll be trouble if they don’t get home early. □

Mary: I’ve already told them that. □

6.These are the rules here. First no lights on after 11 p.m.; second everyone ready for a run round the park at 7 a.m.; third no eating anything except at meal times. □

7.He will be doing that exam now. The one that’s important for promotion. □

8.Come and have a look at my garden. Now, these tulips are my favourites. □

9.That was the bad news. Now for the good news. □

10.Those were not good annual results after the business expanded last year. □

4.5. Expressions using ‘of’ and the genitive

Sections 102–107; 530–535

Of’ is used to indicate various relations between two nouns.

A genitive can often be used with the same meaning as an ‘of’ phrase, especially where the genitive has human reference. Some of these relations are:

Have’ relation; subject-verb relation; verb-object relation; subject complement relation.

A genitive can be a noun phrase containing more than one word and ending with the genitive ending ’s or s’ (see 532).

The genitive is more commonly used for an origin relation or for a classifying relation. There are special cases where time and place nouns frequently use the genitive. It is especially the case when the place noun is followed by a superlative.

In some cases, the uses of the ‘of’ phrase can suggest a different meaning from the genitive use.

Task one *

Underline the genitive and of-phrases in the passage below.

The art gallery’s next exhibition will be a retrospective of the early drawings of Keith Mason. Mason was an East Anglian artist whose interest lay in capturing the atmosphere of the region. When he was in East Anglia, he often stayed at the Shearers’. He had become a friend of David Shearer’s when, as teenagers, they had gone each week to the local school’s evening art classes. Mason showed early signs of a very individual talent and was encouraged to apply for a scholarship to the Cambridge art school. After studying there, he travelled a lot through Europe but always returned to his beloved East Anglia and became one of the Cambridge college’s regular visiting lecturers. He became a friend of several galleries in the region and donated several of his paintings to each gallery. Mason’s death in 1993 left a gap in the region’s art scene. While the region has always produced interesting painters whose work created interest in the region, Mason’s created a national interest for the region.

Task two **

Show where the apostrophe should be in the following genitive phrases. In some cases, it is possible to omit the apostrophe.

1.A teachers work

2.The writers circle

3.The over-fifties club

4.Shakespeares plays

5.Bruce Willis early films

6.The United States economic policies.

7.The governments performance

8.The Managing Directors car

9.Yesterdays news

10.An old boys network

Task three **

Rewrite the following ‘of’ phrases to show the relation between the two nouns.

Example: the envy of the world – THE WORLD ENVIES

The penguins of Antarctica – THE PENGUINS LIVE IN ANTARCTICA

1.people of Africa

2.the main entrance of the building

3.the concern of the workers

4.the dishonesty of some journalists

5.a lack of ideas

6.the courage of ordinary people

7.a bottle of wine

8.the causes of the economic crash

9.the result of his complaint

10.the postponement of the meeting.

Task four **

State the relation between the nouns in the following phrases: ‘have’ relation; subject-verb relation; verb-object relation; subject complement relation.

Rewrite them as ‘of’ phrases.

1.his mother’s despair

2.the sovereign’s rights

3.the actor’s charm

4.the town’s traffic problems

5.the government’s downfall

6.the killer’s arrest

7.the child’s murder

8.the moon’s effect on the tides

9.the father’s anger

10.the orchestra’s performance

Task five ***

Show how the meaning may differ in the pairs of phrases below.

1.

The girl’s story.

The story of the girl.

2.

Scott’s discovery.

The discovery of Scott.

3.

The examination of a doctor.

A doctor’s examination.

4.

His life’s dream.

His dream of life.

5.

A lifetime’s award.

The award of a lifetime.

6.

Manet’s portrait.

The portrait of Manet.

7.

Peter’s friend.

A friend of Peter’s.

8.

Mary’s story is interesting.

The story of Mary is interesting.

9.

The time of the month.

A month’s time.

10.

An actor’s role.

The role of an actor.

Task six *

Rewrite the following phrases using the genitive.

1.The meeting taking place today.

2.The most successful airline in the world.

3.A wait for an hour.

4.The oldest married couple in Britain.

5.The highest mountain in Scotland.

6.A delay lasting a month.

7.A pause for a minute.

8.The favourite son of Liverpool.

9.The worst-kept secret in London.

10.The bush fires which took place last year.