Inglés III (28/11/12)

Explicamos la diferencia entre nombres contables e incontables y el uso de a/an, some/any, much/many/a lot of y how much/how many:

• Countable and uncountable nouns. 

Los nombres contables son aquéllos que se pueden contar y pueden ir en singular o plural.

Boy/boys, car/cars, house/houses, person/people

Los nombres incontables son aquéllos que no se pueden contar y sólo aparecen en singular

salt / water / cheese / milk

Los nombres de alimentos que se suelen comer en porciones, normalmente, son incontables en inglés, aunque en castellano sí se pueden contar:

ham (jamón)/cheese (queso)/bread (pan)/ice-cream (helado)

• A / AN (un/una) Se usan delante de nombres contables en singular. A, delante de consonantes; AN, delante de vocales

a car / a boy / a person / an orange / an elephant / an English teacher

• SOME / ANY (unos, unas o, a veces, no se traducen) Se usan delante de nombres contables en plural o de nombres incontables. SOME, en frases afirmativas; ANY, en frases negativas e interrogativas

I've got some money / I haven't got any money / Have you got any money?

There are some apples / There aren't any apples / Are there any apples?

• HOW MANY/ HOW MUCH. Estos dos interrogativos significan "cuánto/s". HOW MUCH se us a con nombres incontables y HOW MANY con nombres contables.

How many children are there? // How much sugar is there?

Practica: a/an, some/any

EJERCICIOS DE REPASO

1. Fill in the blanks with the verb in brackets. Use PRESENT SIMPLE or PRESENT CONTINUOUS

• Mary ___________ (have) a coffee everyday
• They usually ____________ cook dinner.
• We _____________ (not watch) TV at the moment
• ______ Alice _______ (like) fish?
• Now, I __________ (understand) the message.

2. Fill in the blanks with the verb in brackets. Use PAST SIMPLE or PAST CONTINUOUS

• She was reading a book when the baby ________ (shout)
• We met Sheila while we ______________ (go) to the supermarket
• What _______ you _________ (do) yesterday?
• We _______________ (study) French yesterday at 5 o'clock
• She turned off the TV while I ____________ (watch) the football match

3. Write the COMPARATIVE and SUPERLATIVE forms of these adjectives

• Good
• Handsome
• Pretty
• Difficult
• Hot

4. Fill in the blanks with the correct preposition. Use ON, IN, AT, NEXT TO and BETWEEN

• I've got some money ______ my bag
• My mother is sitting __________ me
• The bank is _________ the cinema and the supermarket
• There's a lot of people ________ the bus stop
• There isn't any books ______ the shelves

5. Fill in the blanks with A, AN, SOME or ANY

• They haven't got ______ money. They can't buy the tickets
• She saw _______ old lion at the zoo
• Have you got _____ pen?
• There's _______ cheese and ________ bread in the kitchen