Basic english level 2

Topic 4

Listening exercises
Countable vs. uncountable nouns
There is/there are
Some/any
How much/how many
 Listening exercises

Do the preparation exercise before listening to the audio:

Classify the following activities in the table below.
Rugby - water polo - football - golf - table tennis - sailing -
diving - badminton - basketball

Outdoor sports Indoor sports Water sports

Rugby table tennis Water polo

Football diving sailing
golf badminton diving
basketball basketball
Listen to the audio
(https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening/eleme
ntary-a2-listening/free-time) and fill the registration form below:

BROWNTON SWIMMING POOL

REGISTRATION FORM
Name: Tyrone
Surname: Williams
Age: 15
Interested in (sport): Water polo
Answer true or false:

1. There are four different groups that play water polo

2. Tyrone wants to join the under 14s
3. The under 16s water polo team train three times a week
4. The under 16s train Monday and Thursday
5. Water polo matches are played on saturdays
6. You have to pay to join the water polo classes for under
18s
7. You need to bring a photo to register at the swimming
pool
Countable nouns
Some nouns in English are countable, which means we can
count them as units and they have both a plural and a singular
form.

One apple Two apples Three apples

Some examples of countable
nouns include:
● Apple - Apples ● Egg - Eggs
● Car - Cars ● Animal - Animals
● Chair - Chairs ● Cellphone - Cellphones
● House - Houses ● Message - Messages
● Sandwich - Sandwiches
● Bag - Bags ● Person - People
● Box - Boxes ● Couch - Couches
● Table - Tables ● Flower - Flowers
● Computer - Computers ● Boy - Boys
● Cat - Cats ● Girl - Girls
● Dog - Dogs
● Child - Children
● Man - Men
● Woman - Women
● Tooth - Teeth
● Foot - Feet
● Goose - Geese
Countable nouns: Grammar
We can only use the singular indefinite article a/an with
singular countable nouns

A table Correct A tables wrong

We use “some” as an indefinite article with countable nouns
when we want to specify there’s a relatively small number of
things without specifying the exact number.

Some apples
Convert these phrases from plural to singular or from singular
to plural
1. A bee Some bees
2. Some apples An apple
3. A monkey Some monkeys
4. Three chairs A chair
5. Some umbrellas An umbrella
6. A hat Some hats
7. An astronaut Some astronauts
8. Some eggs An egg
9. A couch Some couches
10. Some architects An architect
Complete with a, an, or some

● (a) student
● (some) teachers
● (some) apples
● (a) chair
● (a) person
● (a) lesson
● (an) animal
● (a) cat
● (an) apron
● (a) child
 We can use “many” or “a lot of” with plural countable nouns to
indicate there’s a large number of things without specifying
the exact number.

I have some apples

I have a lot of apples

Many sandwiches/a lot of sandwiches

Match the words
with the blanks
under the pictures:
● Many
● A lot of
● A (a lot of) people (many) bananas
● Some

(a) car

(some) t-shirts
Some and any: Usage with countable nouns

Some:
Used to talk about a small group of objects in an affirmative
sentence.
“I have some potatoes in my kitchen”
Used for questions but only when we are asking for or
offering something.
“Do you want some apples?”
“Can I have some bananas?”
Any:
Used takes the place of “some” in most negative sentences
and questions.
“She buys some tomatoes when she goes shopping”
“She doesn’t buy any tomatoes when she goes shopping”
“Does she buy any tomatoes when she goes shopping?”
“I have some pencils in my bag”
“I don’t have any pencils in my bag”
“Do you have any pencils in your bag?”
We can also use “any” the same way in positive sentences with
negative sentiments.

“He never brings any of his books”

With singular countable nouns, we can use “any” to mean the

specific instance of the object isn’t important.

“You can grab any cookie you want”

“Just sit on any chair”

General rule:

We use “some” to talk about a limited but undefined number, and any to
talk about an unlimited and undefined number, or when the number is
zero.

“I have some apples in my basket” (Number of apples is limited, I don’t

know how many apples I have, but I have a rough idea of how many there
could be)

“Do you have any apples?” (Number of apples is unlimited, I don’t have
any idea how many apples the person I’m talking to, could be zero, could
be a lot)

“I don’t have any apples” (Number of apples is zero)

“Do you want some apples” (Number of apples i’m offering is limited)
We can use “many” and “a lot of” to form affirmative
sentences, negative sentences, or questions:

● He has a lot of friends

● He doesn’t have a lot of friends
● Does he have a lot of friends?

● He has many friends

● He doesn’t have many friends
● Does he have many friends?
We can rewrite negative sentences using “any” as positive
sentences using “no”

“I don’t have any messages” = “I have no messages”

“She doesn’t buy any eggs” = “She buys no eggs”

Choose the correct option to complete the sentences.
1. He has (any/a lot of) books
2. Do you have (some/any) brothers?
3. There are (any/some) flowers here.
4. He doesn’t have (any/some) friends.
5. We ate (any/many) cakes
6. You can grab (any/a lot of) apple from the basket.
7. Are there (some/many) people in the park?
8. He never buys (many/any) cookies.
9. Don’t bring (a lot of/any) animals in here!
10. He travels to (any/many) places
11. They don’t have (any/some) children
12. Did she leave (any/some) messages for me?
13. Please go buy (some/any) eggs!
Rewrite the following sentences using “no”

1. They don’t have any children - They have no children

2. He doesn’t have any brothers - He has no brothers
3. I don’t get any emails on the weekends - I get no emails on
the weekends
4. She doesn’t buy any donuts on weekdays - She buys no
donuts on weekdays
5. They don’t sell any cellphones here - They sell no
cellphones here
Watch the video and answer the
questions

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar/beginner-gram
mar/some-any-every-no
Uncountable nouns
Uncountable nouns are things that cannot be counted using only whole
numbers. They might be abstract ideas (money, patience, energy) or
simply things that are too small or amorphous to be counted (liquids,
gasses, powders). Uncountable nouns usually don’t have a plural form
(although there are exceptions)
Example: We can’t count water

One water Two waters Three waters

Some examples of uncountable
nouns:
● Tea - Té ● Energy
● Coffee - Café
● Sugar - Azúcar ● Love
● Salt - Sal ● Fear
● Rice - Arroz
● Money
● Flour - Harina
● Water - Agua ● Research
● Oil - Aceite ● Attention
● Juice - Jugo
● Air - Aire ● Information
● Wood - Madera ● Wealth
● Cloth - Tela
● Fabric - Tela ● Data
● Gold - oro ● Equipment
Counting uncountable nouns
We can count uncountable nouns by using units of
measurement, or if we divide them in containers, for example
● A pound of sugar (unit of measurement)
● A liter of water (unit of measurement)
● A bag of sugar (container)
● A bottle of water (container)
In this case, we treat them exactly like they’re countable
nouns: we can use the a/an indefinite article, and they can
have singular and plural forms (e.g. a bottle of water, two
bottles of water, three bottles of water…)
● A glass
● A gram
● Pound
● A pinch
● A quarter-pound
● Packet
● A can
● Half-spoonful
● ½ liter
● A box
● An hour/minute/year/month/day/
● A meter
● A piece
Some tricky spots for
Spanish-speakers:

There are some words that change whether they’re countable

or uncountable based on context. This can be very confusing
for some spanish-speakers. So let’s clear up some confusion:
The word “chicken” is countable if we’re talking about the animal, if
we’re talking about the animal’s meat, it’s uncountable.

Countable Uncountable

One chicken, two chickens, One piece of chicken, one

three chickens…. pound of chicken...
This is also the case for most animals and their meat.
Examples: fish (the animal) is countable but fish (the
food) isn’t. Pig is countable but pork isn’t. Cow is
countable but beef isn’t. Rabbit (the animal) is
countable but rabbit (the food) isn’t.
 In Spanish, the word “fruit” is countable. In English, individual
types of fruit (apple, orange, banana) are countable, but
“fruit”, referring to fruit in general, is not.

We wouldn’t count this as “one fruit, two fruits, three fruits”

but as “one piece of fruit, two pieces of fruit, three pieces of
fruit”
 “Bread” in Spanish is treated as countable (un pan, dos panes, tres
panes). This isn’t the case in english. What we in Spanish would call
“panes”, in English would be called “loaves of bread” (“hogazas de
pan”), while the word “bread” by itself is treated as the substance the
loaves are made of.

WRONG A bread Two breads Three breads

CORRECT A loaf of bread Two loaves of bread Three loaves of bread
We have a similar case with cheese. In spanish we can count it as “un
queso, dos quesos, tres quesos”, but in english we count cheese in
blocks, wheels, pounds, or other units of measurement, as “cheese”
refers to the substance rather than the block itself.

This is called “A block of

cheese”

NOT
“A cheese”

This is also the case for most products where the noun refers to the substance
the product is made of (Example: we don’t count soaps, we count bars of soap)
Many uncountable nouns (especially foodstuff, ingredients, and materials)
become countable when we’re talking about different varieties of the same
noun. Meat is uncountable, but I can say “This store sells many different
meats” because I’m talking about different varieties of meat. Similarly, fruit
is uncountable, but if I have a fruit salad made with apple, banana and kiwi, I
can say “this salad is made with three different fruits”

Three wedges of Three cheeses

cheese

One roll of
fabric Many fabrics
water - oil - soup - cereal - chicken - fabric - rope - salad - cheese - meat - milk - rice -
bread - salt - sugar - coffee - tea - fruit - honey - juice
Weight (kg, Volume (liter, Length (m, Bag Piece Box Glass Cup
lb) gallon, cm^3) cm, ft, in)

cereal water fabric milk chicken cereal water water

chicken oil rope rice meat milk milk oil
cheese milk piece juice rice
meat honey salt
rice juice sugar
salt coffee
sugar honey
coffee juice
fruit

Bowl Plate Can Jar Cut (block, Drop Carton Bottle

wedge,
wheel, slice)

soup chicken oil honey cheese water milk water

cereal salad soup bread oil oil
salad rice coffee honey
 We can use some and any in a similar way to how we use them
with countable nouns.
● We have some milk in the kitchen
some apples = ● We don’t have any milk in the kitchen
algunas manzanas
● Do we have any milk in the kitchen?
some milk = algo de
● Do you want some milk?
leche
We can also use “a lot of”
● I have a lot of rice
● I don’t have a lot of rice
● Do I have a lot of rice?
However, we can’t use “many”
I don’t have any rice

I don’t have a lot of rice

Do you drink any water?

Do you drink a lot of water?

With uncountable nouns, we can also use “a bit of” or “a little”
● I have a bit of sugar
● I have a little sugar
Like “some”, a bit can only be used in affirmative sentences,
and in questions that are offering or asking for something.
● Do you want a bit of juice?
● Can you give me a little sugar?
 Countables: Uncountables

● Some ● Some
● Any ● Any
● A lot of
● Many ● A bit of
● A lot of ● A little
Watch the video and answer the
questions:

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar/begi
nner-grammar/countable-uncountable-nouns
Choose the correct option to complete the sentences
1. She always puts (some/any) sugar in her coffee
2. You can’t buy (some/any) posters in this shop
3. We haven’t got (some/any) oranges at the moment
4. Peter is buying (some/any) new books
5. We need (some/any) milk for the pancakes and we don’t
have (some/any).
6. We don’t need to buy (some/any) more oil, we have
enough.
7. We still have (some/any) bread.
8. Do you have (some/any) red fabric?
9. Do you want (some/any) juice?
10. I’m going to eat (some/any) chicken for lunch today.
Complete the sentences with some and any:

1. I don’t have (any) cookies in my picnic basket

2. For a healthy snack, you can eat (some) fruit
3. We’ve got (some) rice and vegetables for dinner tonight
4. Don’t drink (any) coffee before you go to bed
5. Can I have (some) olive oil for this salad?
6. I don’t want (any) tea.
7. Can I have (some) cheese, please?
8. My fridge doesn’t have (any) juice.
9. I want to eat (some) strawberries.
10. Let’s eat (some) cereal for breakfast today.
There is/there are
We use “there is” and “there are” to talk about, deny, or ask about
the existence or presence of something. Examples:
“There is an apple on the table” = Hay una manzana en la mesa
“There are three eggs in the kitchen” = Hay tres huevos en la
cocinas
“There is some milk in the fridge” = Hay algo de leche en el
refrigerador
“There aren’t any chairs here” = No hay sillas aquí/no hay ninguna
silla aquí
“Are there any empty boxes?” = Hay cajas vacías?
There is/there are: Usage

We use “there is”:

● With singular countable nouns (“There is a cat on the

table”)
● With uncountable nouns (“There is honey in that jar”)

We use “there are”:

● With plural countable nouns (“There are three cats on

the table”)
Have in mind:
When we’re using units of measurement or containers to
measure uncountable nouns, we treat them as if they’re
countable. This means we say:
“There ARE three bottles of water”
and NOT:
“There IS three bottles of water”
Even thought water is uncountable, the bottles are countable,
and that’s what we’re counting.
Sentences using “there is” or “there are” may or may not
have quantifiers before the noun.
“There are apples on the table”
“There are some apples on the table”
“There are three apples on the table”
“There are a lot of apples on the table”
There is/there are: Structure
Affirmative:

There is/are + (Quantifier) + Noun + C

There are some eggs in the fridge

Negative:

There isn’t/aren’t + (Quantifier) + Noun + C

There aren’t any eggs in the fridge.

Question:

Is/are there + (Quantifier) + Noun + C + ?

Are there any eggs in the fridge?

 Singular Plural

+ There’s a cup There are six plates

- There isn’t a bottle of milk There aren’t any cups

? Is there a glass of orange juice? Are there any glasses?

Short Yes, there is Yes, there are

answer No, there isn’t No, there aren’t
Negative sentences using there is/there are can be rewritten
as positive using “no” as a quantifier:
“There aren’t any eggs in the fridge”
=
“There are no eggs in the fridge”
There isn’t any orange juice = There is no orange juice
There aren’t any oranges in the basket

There aren’t five oranges in the basket

Are there any chairs in the room?

Are there three chairs in the room?

Complete with there is, there are, there
isn’t, and there aren’t:
● (there is) a sofa
● (there are) some plants.
● (there aren’t) any chairs
● (there isn’t) a television
● (there are) two cats
● (there aren’t) three dogs
● (there is) a picture on the wall
● (there is) a man.
● (there isn’t) a table
● (there are) some mice
Fill in the gaps

1. Have you got () orange juice?

2. There are () letters for you.
3. There’s () salt, but there isn’t () pepper.
4. We haven’t got () eggs.
5. Would you like () milk on you coffee?
6. Are there () knives on the table?
7. We haven’t got () more bread. Would you like () biscuits
instead?
8. Sorry, we haven’t got () hot foot, but we’ve got ()
sandwiches if you’re hungry.
Write sentences about your town using the correct form of
there is or there are.

Examples:

● ____________ _(restaurants)
● ______________(train)
● ______________(university)
● ______________(cinema)
● ______________(beaches)
● ______________(metro stations)
Look at this advertisement for a campsite. Complete and then
answer the questions.

() there a swimming pool? () there a children’s playground?

() ()
() there any places to eat and drink? () there a beach?
() ()
() there any supermarkets?
()
Complete the sentences using the correct form of “there is” or
“there are”

● () any milk in the fridge?

● How many students () in your class?
● () a very good beach near our hotel
● () any cheap restaurants near here?
● () an university in Brighton?
● I’m sorry, but () any stores open at this time.
● () fifty states in the U.S.A
There is/are (...) left
“There is a bit of honey left in this jar”
“There aren’t any eggs left”
“Is there any juice left?”

There is/are enough

“There are enough eggs for an omelette”
“There isn’t enough milk to make pancakes”
“Is there enough fruit for a fruit salad?"
Look at this picture for two minutes:
Talk about the items you saw on the picnic blanket using
“there is” and “there are”
How much/How many?
We can use “how much” and “how many” to ask about the
amount of something.

We use “how much” for uncountable nouns, and “how many”

for countable nouns.

“How much milk is there?”

“How many cars do you have?”

We can use “how much” and “how many” together with the
question form of “there is/are”, or with other grammatical
structures.

“How many dogs are there in this house?”

“How many dogs do you have?”

Too much / too many

Similar to how much/how many, we can use the phrases “too

much” / “too many” to indicate the existing amount of
something is too large:

“You put too much sugar in your coffee”

“There are too many people here”

“There aren’t too many people in the bar”

“Does he have too many posters in his room?”

Complete with how much and how many

1. () water do you drink every day?

2. () cups of tea or coffee do you drink every day?
3. () sugar do you put on your tea or coffee?
4. () oil and butter do you eat with your food?
5. () red meat do you eat every week?
6. () bread, rice, and butter do you eat every day?
7. () fruit do you eat every day
8. () sweets and biscuits do you eat every day?
9. () hours’ sleep do you have every night?
10. () time do you spend on a computer every day?
11. () kilometers do you walk every day?
 Some of the following sentences have mistakes, correct them.
1. There are three pounds of salt, but there isn’t any pepper
left.
There aren’t any pears
2. Are there any sandwiches in this basket?
left
3. There isn’t no pears left in the kitchen.
There are no pears left 4. You eat too much burgers every time we go out.
5. There isn’t enough money in my bank account.
6. How many milk is there left?
7. Is there enough dough to make bread?
8. You have too much apples in this fridge.
9. We don’t have any ingredients to make soup.
10. How much bottles of water do you drink every day?
Fish cakes: Method:

Ingredients (to make 24 fish 1. Mash the boiled potatoes

with a little salt and pepper.
cakes) 2. Mix together the potatoes
● 500g boiled potatoes and the fish, tomato purée
and herbs.
● 350g cooked white fish 3. Add a little salt and pepper.
● 1 tablespoon tomato 4. Make 24 fish cakes from the
purée mixture. Cover them in
● 2 tablespoons mixed breadcrumbs.
herbs 5. Heat the oil in a frying pan.
● 50g breadcrumbs Fry the fish cakes for about
four minutes, turning them
● a little oil once.
● salt and pepper 6. Serve the fish cakes
immediately with tomato
sauce and a salad.
Complete the questions about the recipe using how much and how many

Q: __________ fish cakes does this recipe make?

A: Twenty-four

Q: __________fish do you need?

A: 350g

Q: __________potato does the recipe use?

A: 500g

Q: __________tablespoons of herbs do you need?

A: Two

Q: __________oil do you use?

A: A little
Watch the video and answer the questions:

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/study-break/video-zo
ne/how-make-perfect-omelette
Exercise: Reading
George: I’m going out. Do you want anything?
Sally: Could you buy some stuff from the shop?
George: All right. What do you want?
Sally: Well, we haven’t got much milk.
George: How much milk do you want?
Sally: We need two bottles of milk.
George: How about strawberry jam? Have we got any jam?
Sally: Oh yes, there isn’t any jam left. We need a jar of strawberry
jam. And also we’ve finished the butter. We need some butter.
George: OK. I think I‘ve finished the last beer. I’ll buy 5 or 6
bottles of beer.
Sally: OK. There's a little oil left. Please, buy a bottle of oil.
George: No problem. Do you want to eat fish for dinner?
Sally: Ah, yes. I want you to buy four cans of fish, and also
some bread. There isn’t much bread left.
George: How many loaves of bread do you want?
Sally: A loaf of bread is enough. Would you like some coffee
after dinner?
George: Of course.
Sally: Then, buy us a bag of coffee. At last, we only have few
packets of pasta. Could you buy some more pasta? You know
we eat pasta almost every day.

George: OK, no problem.

Sally: One more thing. Don’t buy any nuts. We have got a lot.

George: All right!

Answer true or false:
1. There isn’t any jam left.
2. Sally doesn’t want George to buy any butter.
3. They don’t eat pasta very often.
4. George is going to buy a bottle of beer.
5. Sally wants fish for dinner.
6. Sally asks George to buy a cup of coffee.
7. They don’t need more than a loaf of bread.
8. They have too many nuts.
9. George is going to buy some rasperry jam.
10. There is a little butter left.
11. There isn’t any oil left.
12. Sally asks George to buy some eggs.
13. They eat canned fish instead of fresh fish.
Answer the questions:
1. What items did Sally ask George to buy? a bag of coffee, two
bottles of milk, a loaf of bread, a jar of jam, some packets of
pasta, some butter, four cans of fish, a bottle of oil.
2. What items did Sally ask George not no buy? nuts
3. Why do they need to buy more pasta? Because they eat pasta
almost every day
4. How many bottles of beer is George going to buy? he’s going
to buy five or six
5. What flavor jam is George going to bring? strawberry
6. How much pasta have they got? few packets
7. How much butter have they got? a little butters
8. How much beer is there left? there isn’t any beer left
9. What container does the coffee come in? in a bag
10. How much oil do they have left? a little oil
Let’s read the following article
 Match statements 1-8 with diets A-C
1. They eat a lot of fish. A
A. The Japanese diet 2. They eat a lot of olive oil. B
B. The Mediterranean diet
C. The South-Indian diet
3. They eat a lot of vegetarian food. C
4. They eat vegetables as a main dish. B
5. They eat vegetables for breakfast. A
6. They use spices when they cook. C
7. They don’t eat large amounts of food. A B
8. They take a long time to eat their diner. B
https://en.islcollective.com/video-lessons/groundhog-day-countable-and
-uncountable