LESSON 8SINGULAR, PLURAL, UNCOUNTABLE: COMMON PHRASESCOMPOUNDSSINGULAR, PLURAL, UNCOUNTABLE: COMMON PHRASESA. Countable and uncountable – in several common phrases nouns that are commonly countable are used as uncountable, and vice versa:1.countable nouns used uncountably:We went on foot.He’ll never set foot in my house again.We don’t see eye to eye.They walked arm in arm hand in hand.2.uncountable nouns used as countable plurals:He goes out in all weathers.The rains are early this year.Where did you go on your travels?B. Singular and plural – some nouns are commonly singular but we use them as plurals in common phrases:1.with the:I’m sorry, I’ll have to report you to the authorities.He looked at the mess and raised his eyes to the heavens.2.with possessives, such as my, his etc.:We’ll need to keep a close eye on their activities.What do you know about his likes and dislikes?3.without an article:She puts on ridiculous airs and graces.Do you need to claim travel expenses?PRACTICE1. Put one of the nouns in each of the sentences.heavenssightsfeelingsauthoritiesarmstermstalksexpensesoddsdislikesa.The shoplifter was arrested and handed over to the ……………………b.The …………………… opened ansd we had to run for cover to avoid getting wet.
LESSON SINGULAR, PLURAL, UNCOUNTABLE: COMMON PHRASES COMPOUNDS SINGULAR, PLURAL, UNCOUNTABLE: COMMON PHRASES A Countable and uncountable – in several common phrases nouns that are commonly countable are used as uncountable, and vice versa: countable nouns used uncountably: We went on foot He’ll never set foot in my house again We don’t see eye to eye They walked arm in arm / hand in hand uncountable nouns used as countable plurals: He goes out in all weathers The rains are early this year Where did you go on your travels? B Singular and plural – some nouns are commonly singular but we use them as plurals in common phrases: with the: I’m sorry, I’ll have to report you to the authorities He looked at the mess and raised his eyes to the heavens with possessives, such as my, his etc.: We’ll need to keep a close eye on their activities What you know about his likes and dislikes? without an article: She puts on ridiculous airs and graces Do you need to claim travel expenses? PRACTICE Put one of the nouns in each of the sentences heavens terms sights talks feelings expenses authorities odds arms dislikes a The shoplifter was arrested and handed over to the …………………… b The …………………… opened ansd we had to run for cover to avoid getting wet c United think they can win but I suspect the …………………… are heavily against them d ‘What are you going to in Paris?’ ‘Oh, just to see the ……………………’ e I think we need to negotiate the …………………… of this agreement f I’m sorry I didn’t mean to hurt your …………………… g The right to bear …………………… is written into the US constitution h The peace …………………… have broken down again i Do you need to claim …………………… for the trip? j As far as food is concerned, you have any particular likes or ……………………? Find the word missing in each of the “clues” and complete the crossword Across The constant ……… and goings next door ever cease to amaze me I have no wish to make ……… with anyone, least of all you I was absolutely lost for ……… What shall we spend our ……… on? 10 My former colleagues have all gone off to the four ……… of the earth 11 I’m not going to take ………; you two sort it out between you 13 Players take ……… to lay their cards face-down on the table Down What are they going to with the ……… of the sale? I refused to compensate him for the damaged ……… Stop playing silly ……… and concentrate on your work I hope we can stay ……… despite what’s happened I mean to succeed by fair ……… or foul 12 The police are just beginning to appreciate the ……… and outs of the case COMPOUNDS A Noun + noun we often combine two nouns as a collocation The first noun is usually singular and qualifies the second: a cookery book (= for learning cookery) a computer game (= played on a computer) we use many of these collocations so often that we consider them to be one word – they have become compound nouns Some are usually written as one word (seafood) Others are written as two words (brain drain) and others are hyphenated (T-shirt) There are no fixed rules: laptop city centre willpower fridge-freezer flow chart animal rights phonecard watchword we can combine more than two nouns as collocations: a road tax disc (= a printed notice proving that road tax has been paid) a motorway service station (= for petrol (BrE) / gas (AmE) and food on a motorway (BrE) / highway (AmE)) B Adjective + noun – we can also combine adjectives with nouns as collocations or compounds mobile phone parting shot fizzy drink loudspeaker musical instrument C Adjective + adjective – some words combine to make compound adjectives: absent-minded big-headed good-looking short-lived These may collocate with particular nouns: cold-blooded murder clear-cut case all-round athlete keep-fit fanatic run-down area flat-footed person D Other combinations – we can combine other parts of speech, especially several words, to make compound nouns: law and order bride-to-be comrade in arms fork-lift truck grass-roots opinion PRACTICE Put the corresponding letter of the right word into the blank of each sentence The difference in their computer skills was attributed to the generation ………… a space b difference c gap d hole Tony seemed remarkably devoid of ………… sense and did the most ridiculous things a common b ordinary c average d everyday The cost of ………… has risen dramatically a life b lives c alive d living There is a strong movement supporting the abolition of death ………… a penalty b punishment c discipline d condemnation The trades unions called for a five per cent pay increase for all public ………… workers a section b area c zone d sector Why not take your case to the European Court of Human …………? a Entitlement b Allowance c Law d Rights He gave up studying after suffering a nervous ………… a collapse b breakdown c failure d malfunction Concorde is the only commercial plane to have broken the sound ………… a frontier b barrier c boundary d limit The hospital called for volunteer blood ………… after their supplies ran low a givers b contributors c donors d suppliers 10 One of the most devastating weapons of modern time is the ………… missile a directed b instructed c programmed d guided Put the corresponding letter of the right word into the blank of each sentence He did well in the ………… knowledge quiz a widespread b common c general d ordinary The Government requires everybody to make a financial contribution towards their ………… education a higher b high c highest d highly Police are meeting members of the ethnic community in order to improve race ………… a relationships b relations c relatives d relativity The ………… state exists in order to provide free education and health care to the less well-off a social b benefit c welfare d nanny Unemployment ………… is paid to people who are unable to find any work a security b money c service d benefit The factory made huge improvements in its general management and ………… control a quality b level c standard d equality Industrial ………… have improved with the introduction of a shorter working week a relationships b relations c relatives d relativity Coal, oil and other similar ………… resources may eventually be replaced by solar energy a nature b nature’s c natural d native Arms ………… was the main issue discussed at the leaders’ summit a control b controls c controlling d controlled 10 The Prime Minister is an old ………… at these conferences, having been to so many a hand b man c time d goat Select the correct compound noun to complete the sentence Throughout Western Europe, there has been a rise in the number of ………… a only-parent families c uni-parent families b one-parent families d mono-parent families ‘Living in the World’: Dilemmas of the Self The first dilemma is that of unification versus fragmentation Modernity fragments; it also unites On the level of the individual right up to that of planetary systems as a whole, tendencies towards dispersal vie with those promoting integration So far as the self is concerned, the problem of unification concerns protecting and reconstructing the narrative of self-identity in the face of the massive intensional and extensional changes which modernity sets into being In most pre-modern contexts, the fragmentation of experience was not a prime source of anxiety Trust relations were localised and focused through personal ties, even if intimacy in the modern sense was generally lacking In a post-traditional order, however, an indefinite range of possibilities present themselves, not just in respect of options for behaviour, but in respect also of the ‘openness of the world’ to the individual ‘The world’, as indicated above, is not a seamless order of time and space stretching away from the individual; it intrudes into presence via an array of varying channels and sources Yet it is wrong to see the world ‘out there’ as intrinsically alienating and oppressive to the degree to which social systems are either large in scale or spatially distant from the individual Such phenomena may often be drawn on to supply unifying influences; they are not just fragmenting in their impact on the self Distant events may become as familiar, or more so, than proximate influences, and integrated into the frameworks of personal experience Situations ‘at hand’ may in fact be more opaque than large-scale happenings affecting many millions of people Consider some examples A person may be on the telephone to someone twelve thousand miles away and for the duration of the conversation be more closely bound up with the responses of that distant individual than with others sitting in the same room The appearance, personality and policies of a world political leader may be better known to a given individual than those of his next-door neighbour A person may be more familiar with the debate over global warming than with why the tap in the kitchen leaks Nor are remote or large-scale phenomena necessarily factors only vaguely ‘in the background’ of an individual’s psychological make-up and identity A concern with global warming, for example, might form part of a distinctive lifestyle adopted by a person, even if she is not an ecological activist Thus she might keep in close contact with scientific debates and adjust various aspects of her lifestyle in relation to the practical measures they suggest Giddens, Anthony Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1991, pp 187-201