Writing Studies

Quantity Terms with Count and Noncount Nouns: Exercises

Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab.

In the following sentences, substitute one of these expressions for the underlined words:

little

quite a little or quite a bit of

few

quite a few

To clarify, little means "not much," but quite a little (or quite a bit of) means "a rather large amount." Few means "not many," but quite a few means "a rather large number."

1. Quite a few students have trouble with economics

2. It requires quite a bit of reading.

3. Few advisors spend as much time with their students.

4. He has little hope of passing his exams.

5. George's advisor spends quite a bit of time with him.

6. He does know few people in the class.

7. Bill does spend little money on clothes.

8. She spends quite a bit of money on CDs.

9. He does have few suits.

10. He does understand little of the reading.

 

 

Count and Noncount Nouns Exercises

Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab.

 

 

Count and Noncount Nouns

Exercise 1

Are the following nouns count or noncount? Put an N next to the noncount nouns and a C next to the count nouns. If the noun can be either noncount or count depending on the context, put a D next to it.

World c

textbook
c

acid d

smoking n

poetry n

applause n

thought d

banana c

conduct n

progress n

biology n

essay c

crystal d

shopping n

 

Exercise 2

Put an X next to the words in the following list that can be used as either count or noncount nouns, depending on the context.

defense x


beauty
x

garbage

experience x

baggage

rain x

rug

nature

bag

emotion x

 

 

Exercise 3

Fill in the blank with the form of the noun in parentheses that is appropriate to the grammatical context of the sentence and the meaning of the passage as a whole.

Diabetes: Beyond the Basics

Because diabetes can cause devastating damage to virtually all body systems, people with diabetes should not underrate the seriousness of their disease. Learning to live with a chronic illness such as diabetes must be an ongoing process.

The Hospital's Center for Family Life Education is sponsoring a five-part educational series on diabetes. The series will begin on April 30 and continue through May 29. The program will be held in the second floor classroom of the Education Center from 7-9 p.m.

The diabetes series is free and open to the public and will be of specific interest to people who have diabetes and their families and friends.

Exercise 4

On the basis of the rules for using articles discussed in the OWL file "Count and Noncount Nouns," which combinations of words below are permitted and which ones aren't? Put an X next to the incorrect combinations.

a table these x person this furniture that assignment a x a boy

the poetry a difficulty a research x this eggs x those argument x

 

Exercise 5

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate article if one is needed.

The Computer Jungle

Though you can make a decision on purely economic grounds, buying a computer is often more like joining a religious cult. Buy an Apple, for example, and almost by default you join Apple chairman Steve Jobs in his crusade against IBM. Every machine has its "users' groups" and band of loyal enthusiasts who tout its merits. That makes it all the more difficult for those uninitiated to decide what machine to buy. Students have a huge advantage, however. The computer companies are so eager for students' business (it builds "brand loyalty") that many offer huge discounts.

In the past six months, IBM, Apple, and others have brought out new computers, and the fierce competition has forced prices down. Also, time is on your side: next year at one time you'll have even more choice and more computing power and features for the same price. On the other hand, this will probably be true for many years. So for those who need or want a computer now, it's a great time to buy one.