L2 Grammar: unit 21: noun phrases p NB: revision programme for the final exam: modals and semi-modals, conditionals, unreal time, adjectives and adverbs, clauses, noun phrases (skip complex sentences)

Countable nouns: Countable nouns: have a singular and a plural form: ex: a painting, two paintings Irregular plurals: man/men, etc; goose/geese; louse/lice, ox/oxen, penny/pence (pennies: pièces de un penny), US: die/dice, GB: dice/dice Plural form = same as singular: series, biceps, species, crossroads, kennels, means, sheep, fish, other animals you hunt or fish: deer, grouse, salmon, trout, etc, craft, aicraft, spacecraft, quid (= pound/pounds), stone (weight), head (of cattle), barracks, headquarters, works (= usine) Hyphenated words: the key word is pluralized: brothers-in-law; over-achievers Organisations or groups: verb can be singular or plural: the government is/are With some countable nouns, to refer to a group: phrases ending in of: a flock of birds/sheep, a herd of cows/elephants, a pack of cards/dogs, a bunch of flowers/grapes/keys, a set of encyclopedias/keys, etc

Uncountable nouns: Singular uncountable nouns: only a singular form, verbs in the singular; ex: advice, blood, bread, furniture, hair, information, jewellery, knowledge, luggage, milk, money, news, permission, respect, water With singular uncountable nouns, to describe one particular item: a bar of chocolate, a bit of help/advice, a blade of grass, a block of concrete, a breath of fresh air, a drop of water, a grain of salt/sand, a lump of sugar, a gust of wind, a loaf of bread, a piece of bread/information, a scrap of paper, a sheet of paper, a slice of bread/cheese, a speck of dirt/dust, a spot of ink, etc Plural uncountable nouns: only have a plural form, only take verbs in the plural, ex: arms, binoculars, clothes, congratulations, earnings, glasses, goods, groceries, jeans, odds, pants, pliers, premises, pyjamas, regards, remains, savings, scales, scissors, shorts, surroundings, thanks, trousers, valuables With plural uncountable nouns: sometimes: a pair of: a pair of binoculars, trousers, scissors Some uncountable nouns end in s but are singular: ex: diabetes, news, physics, politics, etc Many nouns: countable with one meaning, uncountable with another meaning: cake, chicken, chocolate, damage, glass, hair, paper, time, wood, work Some uncountable nouns = countable in certain expressions: a great help, a knowledge of

Quantifiers Quantifiers used only with countable nouns (ex: a number of), or only with singular uncountable nouns (ex: an amount of, a great deal of), or with all nouns (a lot of): see bottom of page 170 A few= some; few= not many; only a few= not many Little + countable n. = small; little + uncountable noun = not much; a little + uncountable noun = some Ex: a little book; little money; a little money NB: Always with plural verbs in spite of absence of ‘s’: people, police, cattle, clergy, folk(s), gentry, paparazzi, poultry, vermin

Articles: read p 171 carefully A/AN: (with sing. count. nouns): talking about one thing, but without being specific mentioning something for the first time talking about things in general (formal, more commonly: plural form with no article: A poet sees the world differently. = Poets see the world differently.) THE: with singular count. nouns: being specific; talking generally (formal) Plural nouns: being specific Singular uncountable nouns: being specific With some adjectives to mean groups of people: talking generally ZERO article: With plural countable and uncountable nouns: talking generally With singular uncountable nouns: talking generally NB: we often use no article for concepts, eg: society, space, nature (but THE internet)

Study table at the bottom of p 171 carefully NB: watch the TV (second column) go to hospital : UK / to the hospital : US(third column) Note: The internet

Thème Il aime la nature plus que l’art, n’est-ce pas? He loves nature more than art, doesn’t he? 2. La plupart des gens pensent que le plomb est le métal le plus lourd, mais l’or est plus lourd. Ce qui est certain, c’est que pour l’instant le prix de l’or et du plomb ne cesse d’augmenter. Most people think lead is the heaviest metal, but gold is heavier. What is sure is that at present, the prices of gold and lead are steadily increasing/ keep increasing. 3. Tout le travail sur les télécommunications, les systèmes de prévision météo, l’observation de l’univers, du climat et de la géologie de la terre est mieux fait par des robots, introduits à l’origine pour remplacer les ouvriers et réduire les coûts. Pourtant, dans l’espace comme sur terre, il y aura toujours des tâches que seuls les êtres humains peuvent accomplir.

All the work on telecommunications, weather forecast systems, observing the universe, the earth’s climate and geology is done more efficiently by robots, (which were) first introduced to replace workers and lower costs/bring costs down. Yet, in space as on earth, there will always be jobs (that/which) only human beings can do. 4. Il parla plus comme membre du Parti Conservateur que comme ancien Premier Ministre, déclarant que l’opposition n’avait pas le droit de traiter les gens ainsi. He spoke more as a member of the Conservative Party than as a/the former Prime Minister, declaring (that) the opposition had no right to treat people in such a way. 5. Aux Etats-Unis, le Congrès a le même rôle que l’Assemblée Nationale en France. Tous deux protègent la liberté d’expression et les droits de l’homme qui ont maintes fois été bafoués dans les dictatures. In the United States, Congress has the same role as the National Assembly in France. Both protect freedom of speech and human rights, which have been scorned/flouted in dictatorships many times.

6. Ma mère polonaise a les cheveux gris et les yeux bleus. Sa maîtrise de l’anglais est bien meilleure que celle de sa sœur mais son accent est pire. My Polish mother has gray hair and blue eyes. Her command of English is much better than her sister’s but her accent is worse. 7. Il avait passé cinq ans aux Pays-Bas et à la Jamaïque; l’Angleterre qu’il redécouvrit avait changé, ce qui lui compliqua les choses pour trouver un travail. He had spent five years in the Netherlands and in Jamaica; the England he rediscovered had changed, which made it difficult for him to find a job. 8. Les hommes craignent la mort, pourtant la plupart des Japonais préféreraient mourir plutôt que vivre dans le déshonneur. Men fear death, yet most Japanese people would rather die than live in dishonour.

9. Au lieu d’utiliser les livres, les disques et les logiciels qui demeureront trop cher tant que la TVA restera à son niveau actuel, de nombreux enseignants préfèrent utiliser la craie et la parole. Instead of books, records and software which will remain too expensive as long as VAT stays at its current level, many teachers would rather use chalk and talk. 10. Il n’y a malheureusement pas grand-chose que l’on puisse faire pour empêcher les catastrophes naturelles comme les tremblements de terre, les ouragans ou les vagues de sécheresse. Entre les pluies acides et l’effet de serre, la terre est soumise à un nombre croissant d’attaques. Unfortunately there is not much one/we can do / which can be done to prevent natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes or periods of drought. What with acid rain and the greenhouse effect, the earth is being submitted to more and more attacks. 11. Est-ce que votre père est à la maison? – Non, il est parti à l’église ‘Is your father in/at home?’ ‘No, he has gone to church.’

12. Le fameux amiral Nelson perdit la vie au cours de la bataille de Trafalgar qui empêcha Napoléon d’envahir la Grande Bretagne. The famous Admiral Nelson lost his life during the battle of Trafalgar, which prevented Napoleon from invading Great Britain. 13. La convention sur les droits de l’enfant est un des plus merveilleux cadeaux qui aient été faits aux enfants. The convention on the rights of the child is one of the greatest gifts children have been given. 14. Malgré la saleté, le choléra et le typhus, la vie en définitive était plus forte que la mort. In spite of filth/dirt, cholera and typhus, life proved stronger than death. 15. Où avez-vous passé les vacances? – A l’hôpital. J’ai eu la varicelle, qui, dans les pays développés, tue maintenant de moins en moins d’enfants. ‘Where did you spend the holidays?’ ‘In hospital. I had chicken pox, which, in developed countries, now kills fewer and fewer children.’

Thème 43: 1. Pour moi, la physique est plus facile que les mathématiques. La métaphysique n’est certainement pas mon point fort. In my opinion physics is easier than mathematics. Metaphysics is certainly not my forte/my strong point. 2. La police est-elle bien payée? Are the police well paid? 3. Le moyen de résoudre la problème reste à trouver. The means of solving the problem remains to be found. 4. Ses cheveux bruns grisonnaient. Ils étaient coupés courts comme ceux d’un militaire. His brown/dark hair was turning grey. It was cut short like a soldier’s. / a military man’s.

5. Pouvez-vous me donner un très bon conseil? – Vous avez besoin de conseils. Je vais vous en donner. Vous devriez les suivre. A la réunion, on nous a donné tant de conseils que j’en ai eu le vertige. ‘Can you give me a very good piece of advice?’ ‘You need advice. I will give you some. You should/ought to take it. At the meeting, we were given so much advice that it made my head swim.’ 6. L’acoustique de cette salle de concert est superbe. On a fait beaucoup de progrès dans ce domaine. The acoustics of this concert hall are / the acoustic … is magnificent. Much progress has been made in that field. 7. Sa femme passait beaucoup de temps à chercher sa paire de lunettes. His wife spent quite some time looking for her glasses. 8. La devise du New York Times n’est-elle pas ‘Toutes les nouvelles qui sont bonnes à imprimer’? Isn’t the motto of the NYT ‘All the news that is fit to print’? 9. Deux de leurs avions étaient portés manquants. Two of their aircraft were missing.

10. Un grand nombre de gens croient n’importe quoi. A great many people / Many people believe anything. 11. Ils avaient tous oublié de prendre leur pull-over et se tenaient le dos au vent. They had all forgotten to take their pullovers / sweaters and stood with their backs to the wind. 12. Plusieurs passants s’étaient arrêtés au carrefour pour regarder la police prendre des photos de l’accident. Several passers-by had stopped at the crossroads to watch the police taking pictures of the accident. 13. Combien de poisons avez-vous attrapés? - J’en ai attrapé trois. ‘How many fish did you catch (present perfect also OK)?’ ‘I caught three (fish).’

14. Un grand nombre de ces renseignements était nouveau et digne d’être exploré plus avant. Son esprit allait à toute allure pour comprendre ce tout dernier renseignement. A lot / Much of this information was new and worth exploring further. Her/His mind was racing to understand this latest piece of information. 15. Trois pintes de bière ne suffisent pas à le rendre ivre. Three pints of beer is not enough to get him drunk