Студопедия

КАТЕГОРИИ:

АстрономияБиологияГеографияДругие языкиДругоеИнформатикаИсторияКультураЛитератураЛогикаМатематикаМедицинаМеханикаОбразованиеОхрана трудаПедагогикаПолитикаПравоПсихологияРиторикаСоциологияСпортСтроительствоТехнологияФизикаФилософияФинансыХимияЧерчениеЭкологияЭкономикаЭлектроника


Expressions of quantity.




An expression of quantity (e.g., one, several, many, much) may precede a noun. Notice below: Some expressions of quantity are used only with count nouns; some only with noncount noun; some with either count or noncount nouns.
EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY USED WITH COUNT NOUNS USED WITH NONCOUNT NOUNS
one each every one apple each apple every apple 0 0 0
two both a couple of three, etc. a few several many a number of two apples both apples a couple of apples three apples a few apples several apples many apples a number of apples 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
a little much a great deal of 0 0 0 a little rice much rice a great deal of rice
not any/no some a lot of lots of plenty of most all not any/no apples some apples a lot of apples lots of apples plenty of apples most apples all apples not any/ no rice some rice a lot of rice lots of rice plenty of rice most rice all rice

AFEW AND FEW, A LITTLE AND LITTLE

A few   A little (a) She has been here only two weeks, but she has already made a few friends. (Positive idea: She has made some friends.)   (b) I'm very pleased. I've been able to save a little money this month. (Positive idea: I have saved some money instead of spending all of it.) A few and a little give a positive idea; they indicate that something exits, in (a) and (b).  
Few   Little   (c) I feel sorry for her. She has (very) few friends. (Negative idea: She does not have many friends; she has almost no friends.)   (d) I have (very) little money. I don't even have enough money to buy food for dinner. (Negative idea: I do not have much money; I have almost no money.) Few and little (without a) give a negative idea; they indicate that something is absent.     Very (+ few/little) makes the negative idea stronger, the number/amount smaller.  

 

USING OF IN EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY

MOST + NONSPECIFIC NOUN (a) Most books are interesting.   (b) INCORRECT: Most of books are interesting.   In (a): The speaker is not referring to specific books. The speaker is not referring to “those books” or “your books” or “the books written by Mark Twain”. The noun “books” is nonspecific.   In(b): The word of is not added to an expression of quantity (e.g., most) if the noun it modifies is nonspecific.
MOST +OF + SPECIFIC NOUN (c) Most of those books are mine. (d) Most of my books are in English. (e) Most of the books on that table are mine. A noun is specific when it is precede by: - This, that, these, those, as in (c); or - My, John’s, their (any possessive) as in (d); or - The; as in (e). When a noun is specific, of is used with an expression of quantity.*
EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY FOLLOWED BY OF + A SPECific NOUn all, most, some/any + of + specific plural count noun or noncount noun, as in (f) many, (a) few, several, both, two, one + of + specific plural count noun, as in (g) much, (a) little + of + specific noncount noun, as in (h)
(f) count: Most of those chairs are uncomfortable. noncount: Most of that furnitureis uncomfortable. (g) count: Many of those chairs are uncomfortable. (h) noncount: Much of that furnitureisuncomfortable.

*NOTE: of is always a part of the following expressions of quantity, whether the noun is nonspecific or specific: a lot of, lots of, a couple of, plenty of, a number of, a peat deal of.

NONSPECIFIC: I've read a lot of books.SPECIFIC: I've reada lotof those books.

56. What may prepositions indicate?

Preposition denotes the relation between the given object and other object, phenomena or events.57. How can prepositions be subdivided in accordance with their meaning?

According to their meaning prepositions are often divided into those of place and direction (in, on, below, under, at, to, from), time (after, before, in, at), cause (because of, owing to), purpose (for, in order to), etc.

It will be necessary to mention, however, that such classifications are hardly adequate, at least for two reasons:

- The same preposition may be listed under two or more headings

He went for life. (time)

He shivered for coldness. (cause)

He did it for pleasure. (purpose)

- Many prepositions (by, with, of…) have such a general meaning which it will be impossible to define with any precision.

58. How can prepositions be classified in accordance with their structure?

Simple and compound prepositions.

Simple prepositions consist of one element – stem (in, on, at, after, before).

Compound prepositions consist of two or more elements – stems (instead of, out of, owing to,…).

63. “For, during and while” – grammatical difference.

 

 


Поделиться:

Дата добавления: 2015-04-21; просмотров: 100; Мы поможем в написании вашей работы!; Нарушение авторских прав





lektsii.com - Лекции.Ком - 2014-2024 год. (0.005 сек.) Все материалы представленные на сайте исключительно с целью ознакомления читателями и не преследуют коммерческих целей или нарушение авторских прав
Главная страница Случайная страница Контакты