English Grammar Exercises – Countable and uncountable 2

Exercise 1   

Which of the underlined parts of these sentences is correct?

1   ‘Did you hear noise / a noise just now?’ ‘No, I didn’t hear anything.’ (a noise is correct)

2 a   If you want to know the news, you can read paper / a paper.

   b   I want to print some documents, but the printer is out of paper / papers.

3 a   Light / A light comes from the sun.

   b   I thought there was somebody in the house because there was light / a light on inside.

4 a   I was in a hurry this morning. I didn’t have time / a time for breakfast.

   b   ‘Did you have a good holiday?’ ‘Yes, we had wonderful time / a wonderful time.’

5   This is nice room / a nice room. Did you decorate it yourself?

6   Sue was very helpful. She gave us some very useful advice / advices.

7   Did you have nice weather / a nice weather when you were away?

8   We were very unfortunate. We had bad luck / a bad luck.

9   Is it difficult to find a work / job at the moment?

10   Our travel / journey from Paris to Moscow by train was very tiring.

11   When the fire alarm rang, there was total chaos / a total chaos.

12   I had to buy a bread / some bread because I wanted to make some sandwiches.

13   Bad news don’t / doesn’t make people happy.

14   Your hair is / Your hairs are too long. You should have it / them cut.

15   The damage / The damages caused by the storm will cost a lot to repair.

Exercise 2   

Complete the sentences using the following words. Use the plural (-s) where necessary.

advice     chair     experience     experience     furniture     hair

information      job     luggage     permission     progress     work

1   I didn’t have much ……………………. – just two small bags.

2   They’ll tell you all you want to know. They’ll give you plenty of …………………….

3   There is room for everybody to sit down. There are plenty of …………………….

4   We have no ……………………., not even a bed or a table.

5   ‘What does Alan look like?’ ‘He’s got a long beard and very short …………………….’

6   Carla’s English is better than it was. She’s made …………………….

7   Mike is unemployed. He can’t get a …………………….

8   Mike is unemployed. He can’t get …………………….

9   If you want to leave early, you have to ask for …………………….

10   I didn’t know what to do. So I asked Chris for …………………….

11   I don’t think Dan should get the job. He doesn’t have enough …………………….

12   Nicola has done many interesting things. She could write a book about her …………………….

Exercise 3   

What do you say in these situations? Use a word in each sentence.

luggage    weather     news     information     view     advice

1   Your friends have just arrived at the station. You can’t see any cases or bags.

    You ask them: …………………….?

2   You go into the tourist office. You want to know about places to see in the town.

    You say: I’d like …………………….

3   You are a student. You want your teacher to advise you about which courses to do.

    You say: Can you give me …………………….?

4   You want to watch the news on TV, but you don’t know when it is on.

    You ask your friend: What time …………………….?

5   You are at the top of a mountain. You can see a very long way. it’s beautiful.

    You say: It ……………………., isn’t it?

6   You look out of the window. The weather is horrible: cold, wet and windy.

    You say: What …………………….!