Grammar

An abstract noun is the name of a

quality or idea. It does not name things
Nouns – abstract nouns
you can see or touch.
Examples of abstract nouns: health,
Subject-verb agreement
poverty, laughter, arrival
All abstract nouns are uncountable.
COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
All uncountable nouns are not abstract
nouns.
Exercise 1

Study the examples given and change the following sentences into the plural form.

Examples: He wants a book. They want some books. A penknife is useful. Penknives are
useful.
Uncountable
1. I have a kilo of sugar. nouns cannot
2. You can find a reference book on my table. be counted.
3. A cow is a gentle animal. Examples are:
4. I can see a baggage counter over there. water, air,
5. A good carpenter needs a lot of equipment. bread, money.
6. The farmer has a sheep and a goat. Uncountable
7. This table is made of steel. nouns are
8. She is as timid as a mouse. followed by a
9. She has to take care of her health. singular verb.
10. I can hear the girl’s laughter. Hunger is a
social disease.
Exercise 2

Fill in the blanks using the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

1. My mother _____(get) up early every morning and ______(cook) breakfast for all of us.
2. One of the girls _____(answer) the questions loudly whenever the teachers _____(ask)
questions.
3. Money _____(to be) the root of all problems in that family.
4. The laughter of the girls _____(to be) heard by everyone.
5. Poverty _____(cause) a lot of hardship to many people.
6. When the health of all the people _____(to be) affected, we have to do something.
7. She _____(buy) presents for all the people who _____(attend) the function.
8. Ali and Tom _____(gather) the books but either Ali or Tom _____(take) them to the
room.
9. Either John or the girls _____(clean) this place but neither the girls nor John _____(stay)
here.
10. This exercise _____(prepare) us for our examination.
Grammar

Articles A, AN, THE, SOME

A. In these pairs of sentences the needs to be added to one sentence but not to the other. Add
the where necessary.

1. ___ Kedah is a state in Malaysia. ___Kedah team won the match this year.
2. ___ Sultan is the head of state. ___Sultan Ibrahim was the sultan of Johor.
3. I really cannot live without ___ rice. ___ rice in the box belongs to her.
4. I love to listen to ___ songs. I cannot appreciate ___ songs in this album.
5. I like ___ accuracy of his work. Extra marks are given for ___ accuracy.

B. Read the following passage and add a, an, some or the if necessary. Sometimes no
addition is necessary.

Last night when I was on my way to _(1)__ supermarket, I saw _(2)__student sitting on
_(3)__ bench outside _(4)_cinema in town. I walked up to him and asked him what he was
doing in _(5)__ town. He told me that he was waiting for _(6)__ friend and they were going
to watch _(7)__ movie. As I was talking to him _(8)__ friend arrived with _(9)__ boys who
were not from our school. They had with them _(10)__ tickets for _(11)__ We talked for
_(12)__while and after _(13)_time I went on my way to _(14)__ supermarket to buy _(15)__
oil.