LONGMAN ENGLISH GRAMMAR PRACTICE

2.4 Countable and uncountable nouns (2)

2.4C Partitives: 'a piece of, etc. [> LEG 2.18, App 5]

Study:^1 We use partitives to refer to:

• one item: a loaf of bread


• a part of a whole: a slice of bread


• a collection of items: a packet of biscuits

2 The most common partitives are a piece of and (in everyday speech) a bit of-.

Can I have a piece of bread/a bit of bread/two pieces of bread, please?

3 There are partitives which go with some words but not with others. So we can say a slice of

bread, a slice of cake, a slice of meat (but not "a slice of soap").

Partitives can be 'containers' (a tin of soup) or can refer to small amounts (a drop of rain).

Write: Match A and B.

A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10

11

12

13

14

15

В

I'd like some ice a wisp of ....

Have you got any chocolate? a cube of....

Can I have some bread, please? a splash of

We need some paper a box of

Buy me some soap, please a sip of

Buy me some milk, please a tube of ....

We need some jam a drop of....

Have you got any matches? a bar of

I've made some tea

Buy some toothpaste. ..

Add a little water

Add a little эаИ.......

I've drunk a little tea

Add a little soda

I can see a little smoke.

a slice of..

a pinch of.

a sheet of.

a jar of

a bar of ....

a bottle of.

a pot of ....

2.4D Context

Write: Put in a, a lot of (use once only), some, or '-'

JUNK OR ART?

Who became famous for painting^1 tin of soup? The answer is the American pop artist,

Andy Warhol. Andy painted everyday objects and he also liked to collect them in large numbers:

(^2) cookie jars, (^3) sets of cutlery, (^4) vases, (^5) furniture and
(^6) paintings. Andy died in 1987 and his vast collection was sold. Someone paid $23,100 for
two cookie jars which had cost a few dollars each.^7 pieces of furniture were sold for nearly
$300,000. The sale raised^8 money for the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts,
which may now have $100m! So, before you clear out your attic, take another look. What you think is
(^9) rubbish today, might be (^10) treasure tomorrow. That ugly old vase belonging to
Grandma may be more valuable than you think!
Junk or art?