English grammar drills part 8 potx

Articles 41
Dogs are usually protective of their territory.
American television programs often use laugh tracks.
Here are some examples with noncount nouns:
Conflict always has the potential to get out of hand.
Wood is usually more expensive than plastic.
Miscommunication frequently results in misunderstanding.
Sunshine generally gets rid of moldy patches.
Exercise 3.7
Use the appropriate article in the blank spaces in the following sentences. If the sentence is mak-
ing a generalization, put л in the blank space to show that no article is used.

л
olives are usually too salty for me.
1. Western movies have horse chases rather than car chases.
2. All too often, politicians just tell people what they want to hear.
3. We are waiting until we get back all replies to our request.
4. We only order supplies when we run out.
5. trucks are never allowed in the left lane.
6. We are required to have 1,000 units of blood on hand at all times.
7. highways are free of ice, but I am worried about bridges being slippery.
8. bridges are inspected by independent state agency.
9. In park, trees are beginning to turn green.
10. trees play major role in controlling excess carbon dioxide.
11. We must get permission slips before every school outing.
12. At this time of year, snow can cause delays.
13. I can’t stand wearing shoes without socks.
14. In hotel’s formal dining room, jackets and ties are required.
15. When I travel overseas, sleep becomes big problem for me.
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42 Noun Phrases

Exercise 3.8
Fill in the blanks in the following paragraph with the appropriate article. Use л if no article is
used because a plural count noun or noncount noun is being used to make a generalization.

л
travel by air has become everyone’s favorite topic to complain about.
We all have heard stories about passengers being stuck for hours on
runways and stories about endless lines at ticket counters. These are
all true. problem is that none of us is willing to pay what it would cost to fi x
problems. None of us wants to pay penny more than we have to. When
airlines try to raise prices to improve their services, we all go to airlines that
have not raised their prices. When airports try to get approval to raise taxes
to pay for airport improvements, we vote bond issues down.
We have now covered the major uses of articles with common nouns. We can summarize the
use of the indefi nite articles in the following table:
INDEFINITE ARTICLES
Countable Nouns Noncount Nouns

Singular Plural

a/an some л some л
л ϭ no article
Remember that the choice of not using an article to signal that a plural count noun or a noncount
noun is being using to make a generalization is just as much a choice as using a or the.
Exercise 3.9
Use the appropriate article in the blank spaces in the following sentences. If the sentence makes a
generalization, put л in the blank space to show that no article is used.
Could you answer
the
phone?

1. There’s program on TV tonight that I would like to watch.
2. Did we ever get answer from the Smiths?
3. train from Chicago is just pulling into station.
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Articles 43
4. Can you get bread and milk when you go shopping?
5. reception on my cell phone is not very good.
6. weather forecast is for big storm over weekend.
7. storm that hit us caused huge power failure all along East Coast.
8. I always enjoy reading comics in Sunday paper.
9. In Italy, wine is taxed as food.
10. Robert is last person to know what’s going on.
11. We are planning to go on hike this weekend.
12. She raised really good issues in class today.
13. I have problem that I need to discuss with you.
14. restrooms at train station are always dirty.
15. Whenever we go to movies, we always get big bag of popcorn.
16. Everyone has to have insurance.
17. I’ve just had idea.
18. There was fi re at old Brown place last night.
19. Can I get information from you?
20. Bad news travels around world before good news gets its shoes on.
21. Susan lost baby tooth today.
22. I have information that group will be interested in.
23. newspapers all across country are losing readers.
24. I never get clear answer from personnel department.
25. We got real shock when contractor gave us fi nal bill.
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44
Post-Noun Modifi ers

In this chapter we will examine two of the most important types of noun modifi ers that follow
the nouns that they modify: adjectival prepositional phrases and adjective clauses (also known
as relative clauses). Here is an example of each of the types. The noun being modifi ed is under-
lined, and the modifi er is in italics:
Adjective prepositional phrase: The house on the corner belongs to the Smiths.
Adjective clause (relative clause): The house that is on the corner belongs to
the Smiths.
Before we can talk about these modifi ers, we need to introduce a new term: noun phrase.
A noun phrase is a noun together with all of its modifi ers, both pre-noun and post-noun. For
example, look at the following sentence:
The tall young man in the yellow jacket is my cousin.
The noun man is modifi ed by three pre-noun adjectives, the tall young, and the post-noun adjec-
tival prepositional phrase in the yellow jacket. Together they all make up the noun phrase the tall
young man in the yellow jacket. We can also represent the noun phrase this way:
pre-noun
modifi ers noun post-noun modifi ers
The tall young man in the yellow jacket
There is one remarkable fact about noun phrases. They can always be identifi ed by third-
person pronoun replacement. In other words, a noun phrase is a group of words that can be
replaced by a third-person pronoun. For example, we can replace our noun phrase with the third-
person pronoun he:
4
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Post-Noun Modifi ers 45
The tall young man in the yellow jacket is my cousin.
He is my cousin.
There are four third-person pronouns. Here is the complete list in both subject and object
form:
Subject form Object form
he him

she her
it it
they them
All noun phrases, no matter what role they play in a sentence and no matter what their inter-
nal structure is, can be replaced by one of the eight third-person pronouns listed above. Here is
an example using each third-person pronoun:
He: A small boy who looked about five years old came into the room.
He came into the room.
She: My sister who goes to school here is getting her driver’s license.
She is getting her driver’s license.
It: The TV mounted in the back of the room suddenly went blank.
It suddenly went blank.
They: All of the employees at my company belong to unions.
They belong to unions.
Him: Did you see a tall man dressed in a black jacket?
Did you see him?
Her: Bring a menu for the young lady seated over there.
Bring a menu for her.
It: I didn’t get the last question on the exam.
I didn’t get it.
Them: Please ask all the people who are waiting in the hall to come in.
Please ask them to come in.
Exercise 4.1
Underline all the noun phrases (except ones that are just pronouns by themselves) in the follow-
ing sentences. Show that your answer is correct by writing the appropriate third-person pronoun
above the noun phrase that you have underlined.
It
The book you asked for fi nally came in.
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46 Noun Phrases

1. They have commissioned a new statue of him.
2. You should send it to all the people who might be interested.
3. All of the presenters who have registered should arrive early.
4. I am trying to eat a lot more vegetables that are grown locally.
5. It is not easy to get ripe, locally produced organic apples.
6. The people who live there often have to commute long distances.
7. Did you ever get the documents that you requested?
8. Everyone is curious about the new employees who were just hired.
9. The building where I work is being remodeled.
10. The last telephone number that you gave me doesn’t work.
11. The new engine will burn any fuel that can be made into a liquid at room temperature.
12. The Harry Potter books, which have sold in the millions, have encouraged reading.
13. People who drive to work every day need to get parking permits from the offi ce.
14. The new regulation has improved hospitals’ safety records.
15. He is a director whose movies have been very successful.
Adjectival prepositional phrases
Prepositional phrases always consist of a preposition plus its object. Objects of prepositions are
nouns or pronouns (plus other more complex structures like gerunds and noun clauses that we
will address later). For example:
Preposition Noun phrase object
to the offi ce
under a big oak tree nearby
by Shakespeare
from all my friends
before next weekend
Preposition Pronoun object
with them
after it
over me
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Post-Noun Modifi ers 47
beyond her
between us
Adjectival prepositional phrases often give information about space or time. Here are some
examples with the preposition in italics and the entire prepositional phrase underlined:
Space information
the house on the corner
the chair by the window
the window behind the desk
the fl oor above this one
the freeway to Seattle
Time information
the day after tomorrow
a week from Wednesday
some time during the week
the period between semesters
an hour from now
However, many other adjectival prepositional phrases express a wide range of meanings that
fall outside of space and time. It is very diffi cult to classify these in any simple way. Here are some
examples:
a book by Dickens
a book about Dickens
a man with a baseball cap
the causes of depression
everybody except me
Exercise 4.2
Underline the adjectival prepositional phrases in the following sentences. Above each preposi-
tional phrase write space, time, or other as appropriate to the meaning.
place other
Somebody at work gave a good analysis of the problem.

1. The mood at work has not been very good during this diffi cult period.
2. The severe fl ooding over the weekend has increased the risk of infection.
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