Language Structure Assignment 2: Key to Seminar Grammar Tasks Task 1 a. 1) Where is the money (that) I lent you? Have you spent it? Money is uncountable and thus takes a singular verb (is) and is referred back to by a singular pronoun (it). 2) This news /was/is/ unexpected. News is uncountable and thus takes a singular verb (was/is) and a singular pronoun as determiner (this). 3) There is no evidence/proof that/which can lead to a conviction/verdict of guilty. Evidence and proof are both uncountable and thus take a singular verb. 4) The police do not seem to know what to do. Police is an invariable plural and thus takes a plural verb (do). 5) I need a pair of scissors (some scissors) to open this /parcel (BrE)/package (AmE)/. Scissors is an invariable plural; a pair of, two pairs of, etc. can be used to quantify the noun. 6) It was hard work to go/get through all these documents. Work is uncountable except in the sense artistic or scientific output (e.g. the works of William Shakespeare); as an uncountable noun, it cannot take the indefinite article. 7) You gave me (/some/a piece of/) very good advice. Advice is uncountable and thus cannot take the indefinite article. Words and phrases such as some and a piece of, two pieces of, etc. can be used to convey plural meaning, but there is frequently no such quantifier present. 8) Would you like to /change/trade/ places with me? Many expressions involving change from one item to another are logical plurals in English; since two places are involved, the plural form of the noun is used. b. Uncountable nouns are indicated with the grammar code [U]. The grammar code [plural] is used for invariable plural nouns. c. 9) She will be needing all her new knowledge for this job. Knowledge is uncountable and thus cannot appear in the plural (however, unlike most uncountable nouns, knowledge can take the indefinite article in many cases, although this is not possible in [9]). 10) I wonder how many people there will be at the concert. People is an invariable plural and thus requires a plural quantifier (many). 1
Task 2 11) Alcohol has been a part of Western culture for centuries. In most nouns that end in consonant + y, the y is replaced with ie before a plural -s. 1 12) All the aircraft were grounded Aircraft is a zero plural; the plural form is the same as the singular form. 13) The Middle Ages were not. The Middle Ages is an invariable plural and thus takes a plural s and a plural verb. 14) Economics was his favourite subject at school. When nouns in -ics refer to the names of sciences and scholarly subjects, they are invariable singulars and require singular verbs. 15) This is a very popular TV crime series. The noun series has a zero plural form; series is thus both a singular and a plural form. 16) When we decide which applicant will get the job, previous experience is an important criterion. Criteria is the plural form; the singular form is criterion. 1) It is a good (positive) thing that inflation is low this year. Inflation is an uncountable noun used in a generic sense and thus takes no article. 2) He has shown great patience and is always in a good mood. Patience is an uncountable noun and thus does not take the indefinite article; in a good mood is one of the expressions with singular countable nouns where the indefinite article is required in 3) My brother-in-law works as a chef at Angus Steakhouse even though/despite the fact that he is a vegetarian. Occupations normally take the indefinite article (a chef). Subject predicatives denoting classification take the indefinite article (a vegetarian). 4) One/You can easily find this information on the Internet. Definite article and capital letter normally used with the Internet. 5) They (will) have to pay damages for the damage they /did/have done/caused/have caused/ to the car. When damages corresponds to Swedish skadestånd, it is always plural in English; when damage corresponds to Swedish skada/skador, it is uncountable and thus always singular. 6) This is /such an important/so important a/ problem that we have to solve it immediately. The indefinite article follows such in English; if so is used, the indefinite article follows both so and the adjective (important in [6]). The construction with so is more formal and less frequent than the construction with such. 1 It would also be correct to omit the indefinite article before part. 2
Task 3 The correct answer is underlined. a. Is the sentence Prices have fallen lately grammatically correct? Why? 1) Yes, because prices is a plural noun used in a specific sense and should thus take no article. 2) No, because prices is a plural noun used in a specific sense and should thus take the definite article. 3) Yes, because prices is a plural noun used in a generic sense and should thus take no article. 4) No, because prices is a plural noun used in a generic sense and should thus take the definite article. b. Is the sentence My sister and I left town next day grammatically correct? Why? 1) No, because the adjective next should be preceded by the definite article in 2) No, because the adjective next should be preceded by the indefinite article in 3) Yes, because the adjective next should not be preceded by an article in 4) No, because the adjective next should be preceded by a possessive pronoun or a genitive noun phrase in c. Is the sentence The cattle is grazing in the field grammatically correct? Why? 1) No, because cattle is an invariable singular noun. 2) No, because cattle is an invariable plural noun. 3) Yes, because cattle is an invariable singular noun. 4) Yes, because cattle is an invariable plural noun. d. Is the sentence The French literature is full of heroes grammatically correct? Why? 1) Yes, because literature is an uncountable noun used in a specific sense and should thus take the definite article. 2) Yes, because literature is an uncountable noun used in a generic sense and should thus take the definite article. 3) No, because literature is an uncountable noun used in a specific sense and should thus take no article. 4) No, because literature is an uncountable noun used in a generic sense and should thus take no article. e. Which statement about English nouns is true? 1) English countable singular nouns do not take the indefinite article. 2) English nouns always end in -(e)s in the plural. 3) English uncountable nouns lack plural forms. 4) English proper nouns do not begin with an upper-case letter. 3
f. Is the sentence My sister is physician correct? Why? 1) No, because nouns denoting occupations should take the indefinite article when they are used as predicatives in 2) No, because physician is an invariable plural in 3) Yes, because uncountable nouns used in a generic sense take no article in 4) Yes, because plural nouns used in a generic sense take no article in g. What are the singular and plural forms of the English noun lady? 1) Common-case singular lady, genitive singular lady s, common-case plural ladys, genitive plural ladys. 2) Common-case singular lady, genitive singular lady s, common-case plural ladies, genitive plural ladies. 3) Common-case singular lady, genitive singular ladie s, common-case plural ladies, genitive plural ladies. 4) Common-case singular lady, genitive singular lady s, common-case plural ladies, genitive plural ladies s. Task 4 a. Task 5 1) the size of the stone. The of-construction is usually used with nouns that do not refer to people, pets, etc. 2) James (s) car. The genitive must be used when the owner is a human being and the thing that is owned is a concrete thing. The final s is optional when the name ends in s. 3) the government s decision. Collective nouns are mainly used with the genitive. 4) the pages of the book. The of-construction should be used when the owner is a thing. 5) the students essays. Only apostrophe used in the plural after regular s. 6) the women s protests. Apostrophe + -s used for irregular plurals. 7) yesterday s news. The genitive often used for certain time expressions. 8) the situation of the unemployed. The of-construction must be used when the owner is expressed by an adjective as the head of a noun phrase. 1) You can t do it without /permission/a permit/. Permission is uncountable and does not take the indefinite article, while permit is countable and takes the indefinite article in the singular. 2) Western culture is spreading. In (2), culture is an uncountable noun used in a generic sense and thus takes no article. 4
3) In /the society of today/today s society/ there is debate about whether euthanasia should be allowed. The definite article is required in the phrase the society of today because society is used in a specific sense (as it is identified by the postmodifier of today). However, today s society is one of the expressions of time where it is possible to use the genitive instead of the of construction in English, and today s society is far more frequent than the society of today. 4) I read an interesting article in The New York Times the other day. Most newspapers take the definite article. 5) The UN is in financial difficulty. The /United Nations/UN/ is a logical singular even though it looks like a plural noun phrase; a singular verb is thus required. 6) If drugs were legalized, organized crime would no longer plague society. In (6), society and crime are uncountable nouns, and drugs is a plural noun. 2 Since all three nouns are used in a generic sense in (6), none of them takes the definite article. 7) This was an important reform for middle-class women. In (7), women is a plural noun used in a generic sense; thus it takes no article. 8) The media have the capacity to reach many people around the world. Capacity takes the definite article because it is identified by the postmodifier to reach many people around the world. Note that the definite article is necessary before media when it refers to organizations that provide news and information for the public (television, newspapers, etc.) taken together. This is an excellent example of information one would get from looking up media in an English English dictionary such as the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary 9) The news on TV was really depressing. News is an uncountable noun; thus it takes a singular verb (was). 10) Alcohol and tobacco are dangerous for young people. A co-ordinated subject like alcohol and tobacco usually counts as plural (it would correspond to the pronoun they), so a plural verb form is required. (However, when two co-ordinated nouns are seen as the same unit, a singular verb form is used, because the combination is then seen as a logical singular: Law and order is the key issue in this election). 11) This is the city s most famous attraction. The genitive apostrophe used for geographical nouns. 2 Note that, like many uncountable nouns, both society and crime can be countable nouns in other senses. It is thus necessary to know whether a noun is countable or uncountable in the specific sense in which it is used in a given sentence. The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English provides such information for each sense of a noun if the noun in question can be both countable and uncountable. 5