A complete English language course part 7

In this unit you will learn how to: • use countable and uncountable nouns • ask for and buy things in shops • ask the price of something • use numbers • use British money • say that you

get in Get in the car, boys! (enter vehicle)

get out Let’s get out of here (leave; go away)

get away The thieves tried to get away (escape)

Life and living – a trip down the

high street

If you’re too shy to ask the way, or if you’re simply not pushed for time, you can get to know where everything is in town by having a

look round and keeping your eyes open Let’s take a short walk

down a typical high street, shall we? I’ll lead the way and we’ll see

if we can spot any useful or interesting places.

Over here on the left, on our side of the street, is the super-market, and right next to it there’s the post office – every town has one of these somewhere, and you can tell it by its red sign Over

there on the other side of the street you can see some smaller shops:

there’s a newsagent’s on the corner, and a couple of cafés – we

might go in one of those later for a cup of tea what do you think?

Further down on the right is the bus station, and just behind that you can probably just see the sports and leisure centre, which is open to everyone; you can often find private sports and health clubs

in towns as well – they’re smaller and you have to pay to be a

member.

Now – can you see that big old building coming up on the left, opposite the bus station? That’s the public library Actually, that reminds me – I’ve got to take some books back there today or tomorrow, otherwise I’ll get a fine Anyway, just a bit further on, there are two banks, one on either side of the street, and then you can see some traffic lights Then there are some more small shops just past the lights, including a butcher’s and a greengrocer’s, and some Indian and Chinese restaurants Then if we stop here outside the pub and look straight ahead, that building in the distance is the railway station – it’s about a ten-minute walk from the town centre.

There we are – a typical British high street So now let’s go back

the way we came – I think I could do with that cup of tea now.

Glossary

shy – afraid to talk to people

pushed for time – with not much time; so ‘I’m not pushed for time’ means

‘I’ve got plenty of time’ or ‘I needn’t worry about time’

typical – usual, normal

lead the way – go first

spot – notice

over here – here near us

supermarket – large shop that sells all kinds of food

right next to – immediately next to, next door to

post office – public building where you can send letters and parcels

tell – recognise

sign – name board outside a shop

newsagent’s – shop that sells newspapers

corner – point where two roads join

couple of – two

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further – more far

just see – see with difficulty, see if you try hard

sports and leisure centre – public building where you can do sports and

fitness exercises

private – not open to the public

member – someone who belongs to a club or organisation

coming up – approaching

library – public building which lends books

reminds me – makes me remember

fine – a penalty, money you have to pay as punishment for something

a bit – a little

either side – both sides

traffic lights – red, yellow and green lights to control the traffic

butcher’s – shop that sells meat

greengrocer’s – shop that sells vegetables

restaurants – places where you can sit down and eat a meal

pub – place where you can sit and drink alcoholic drinks and eat food railway station – place where trains stop

could do with – need

4 Have you got

any bread?

In this unit you will learn how to:

• use countable and uncountable nouns

• ask for and buy things in shops

• ask the price of something

• use numbers

• use British money

• say that you want or don’t want something

Dialogue 1

Helen is buying a few things in the corner shop.

HELEN: Hello Have you got any bread left?

ASSISTANT: Yes – we’ve got white and brown, sliced and

unsliced

HELEN: Give me a brown sliced loaf, please Oh, and a box

of matches, and a bottle of milk

ASSISTANT: Anything else?

HELEN: Let’s see some apples and some cat food ASSISTANT: How many apples would you like?

ASSISTANT: And how much cat food?

HELEN: Two tins1 will do, I think How much does that

come to?

ASSISTANT: £5.86, please

HELEN: [gives the assistant the money]

Thanks a lot

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ASSISTANT: Thank you Bye.

1 tin – a sealed metal container for food The food in the tin can be either

uncount-able (cat food, ham, rice pudding) or countuncount-able (carrots, potatoes), but the tin

itself is always countable! Another word for tin is can, which is used in the UK

particularly for drinks For an explanation of uncountable and countable nouns, see Language point 23 below.

Language point 23 – counting and

quantity

There are two types of noun in English:

• nouns such as cup, egg, garden, book, mouse which are

COUNTABLE(C)

• nouns such as water, milk, butter, food which are UNCOUNTABLE

(UC)

They are used in different ways

Countable nouns

• can have PLURALS: cups, eggs, gardens, books, mice

• are used in the singular with a/an: a cup, an egg, a garden

• can be used with numbers: three mice, seven books

• are used with many: how many cups?, too many books

Uncountable nouns

• usually can’t have plurals: ‘waters’, ‘milks’, ‘butters’, ‘foods’

• usually can’t be used with a/an: ‘a water’, ‘a milk’, ‘a food’

• are used with much: how much water?, too much food

• usually can’t be used with numbers: ‘three foods’,

‘seven waters’

Idioms

– will do means ‘will be enough’

– come to means ‘add up to’; how much does it come to? means

‘what is the total that I have to pay?’

Both uncountable and countable nouns:

• can be used with the: the garden, the gardens, the milk

Both uncountable and PLURAL countable nouns:

• can be used with some, any and a lot of:

Have you got any bread?

Have you got any eggs?

Give me some apples and some cat food

There are a lot of children here

There’s a lot of snow outside

• can be used with QUANTITY WORDS:

a box of matches

a pint of milk

Notice in Dialogue 1 that Helen says:

Have you got any bread left?

not ‘Have you got bread left?’

We generally put some (statements) and any (questions and

nega-tives) before plural nouns and uncountable nouns

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Be careful! In colloquial English we don’t use much and many

on their own, except in NEGATIVEsentences – instead we say a

lot of:

There’s a lot of food on the table

not ‘There’s much food on the table’

There are a lot of people in the meeting

not ‘There are many people in the meeting’

But

There isn’t much food on the table

There aren’t many people in the meeting

And we do say how much, too much, how many, too

many, etc.



More examples:

I need some eggs

I need some milk

Has Sandra got any children?

Has Sandra got any food in the house?

We don’t want any biscuits

We don’t want any cake

Exercise 1

Candace has made shopping list Look at the items on it and write whether they are countable nouns (C) or uncountable nouns (UC)

8 twelve bars of chocolate

19 tin of rice pudding

20 box of soap powder

Exercise 2

Bert’s also made a shopping list Complete it by adding either a/an

or some before each item.

4 rice 14 orange juice

5 bag of carrots 15 extra bottle of milk

8 box of matches 18 yoghurts

9 kilogram of ice cream 19 sour cream

Dialogue 2

Back at home, Simon asks Helen how the shopping went.

SIMON: Did you get any milk?

HELEN: Yes, I got a pint

SIMON: And did they have any bread left?

HELEN: Yes, they did I got us a brown loaf

SIMON: And what else did you get?

HELEN: I got some apples and two tins of cat food

SIMON: Good – we were right out of cat food

HELEN: And I got some matches

SIMON: Right – would you like a cup of tea?

HELEN: [suddenly remembers] Oh hell! I didn’t get any

teabags! And we’re out of them, aren’t we?

SIMON: Afraid so I’ll get some later

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Language point 24 – ‘did’ auxiliary

We have already seen do as an AUXILIARY in the present simple (Language point 12):

Do you speak Italian? (present simple question)

I don’t speak Italian (present simple negative)

but I speak Italian not ‘I do speak Italian’

If we change do (present) to did (past) and use it with the BASE-FORM in the same way, we can talk about the past:

Did you get any milk? (past simple question)

I didn’t get any teabags (past simple negative)

But in ordinary statements (in just the same way as the present

simple) we don’t use the do auxiliary – so in Dialogue 2 Helen says:

Idioms

• we’re right out of (cat food) means ‘We haven’t got any cat food left’, ‘the cat food has all gone’; and so we’re out of them means

‘we haven’t gone any more of them left’

• left means ‘remaining’:

How many have you got left?

There are three biscuits left

There’s nobody left in the building

• we use oh hell! when we are cross or angry about something that

has happened – it’s not rude, so you can use it when you like, but

maybe avoid using it in formal or sensitive situations

Oh hell, I’ve locked myself out!

Oh hell, we’ve missed the bus!

Oh hell, we’re out of milk!

• afraid so, or I’m afraid so, means ‘Unfortunately you’re right’ or

‘Unfortunately what you say is correct’

– she uses the past simple got We will see how to do past simple

statements in Unit 9 – for now remember the difference between

the do and did auxiliaries.

Exercise 3

Complete the sentences using either do or did.

1 you see Gerry yesterday?

2 you speak English?

3 you know where the bank is?

4 you get enough wine for the party?

5 you go to work by bus usually?

6 you go to work by bus today?

7 you watch the film on TV last night?

8 you know what the capital of Switzerland is?

Exercise 4

Fill in the blanks from the box – you can use each word only once

1 Do your parents live nearby?

2 Fiona speak French?

3 Su and Shamira like the cold weather

4 I buy enough food for the party, I’m afraid

5 We usually buy a Sunday paper

6 Justine tell you about the party?

7 James like hot food

8 they want to come to the party with us?

don’t doesn’t do didn’t

Dialogue 3

Jenny’s in the pub with her friends She’s ordering drinks at the bar.

JENNY: Two lemonades, please

ASSISTANT: Would you like ice with those?

JENNY: Yes please And a pint of lager

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