Common Countable Nouns
In this chapter, let's take a look at common countable nouns.
People: critic, representative, official
Rules: regulation, standard, direction, procedure, measure
Increase: increase, hike, rise
Decrease: decrease, drop, decline, reduction
Money: price, wage, donation, grant, scholarship
Regulation: standard, direction, procedure, measure
The company has new
procedures for dealing
with complaints.
New measures have
been introduced to try and ease traffic congestion in the
city.
The company implemented a
regulation on limiting
operation costs.
▶️ price and wage are countable nouns
House prices are
falling.
She earns a good wage
now. Her previous job pays very low
wages.
There are a couple of shops in town which sell clothes at
affordable
prices.
▶️ donation, grant, scholarship (countable nouns)
I'd like to make a small
donation in my mother's
name.
The university awarded me a
grant to study abroad
for a year.
We got a government
grant for our start-up.
He got/won a
scholarship to Harvard.
▶️ increase, hike, rise
There will be an
increase in tax for
those earning in excess of twice the national average wage.
The rise in the value
of the dollar has depressed the company's profits this year.
▶️ drecrease, drop, decline, reduction
The airline halved its overseas service
because of a sharp
reduction in
traffic.
They forecast a large
drop in unemployment
over the next two years.
Example: A large number of _______ in this nation have formed an
association to lobby the federal government for favorable
legislation.
(A) manufacturers
(B) manufacture
(C) manufacturer
(D) manufacturing
The correct answer should be (A) manufacturers.
The sentence structure suggests that we need a plural noun after
"a large number of", and "manufacturers" is a noun referring to a
group of people who are producing goods for sale, which fits the
context of the sentence.
(B) Manufacture is a verb or noun and doesn't make sense in the
context of the sentence. It refers to the act or process of making
goods on a large scale using machinery, not the people who do
this.
(C) Manufacturer is a singular noun. It can't be used after "a
large number of" which requires a plural noun.
(D) Manufacturing is a verb or noun and does not make sense in
the context of the sentence. It refers to the act, business, or
profession of producing goods for sale, not the people who do
this.
Example: The warranty will expire after one year, but a _______ to
a discounted repair service can be obtained at the time of purchase.
(A) subscriber
(B) subscribes
(C) subscribe
(D) subscription
The correct answer is (D) subscription.
This is because, in the context of the sentence, we're talking
about an additional service or product that can be purchased,
which fits the noun form 'subscription'. The grammar rule
"determiner+ noun" also supports this choice. In this rule, 'a' is
the determiner, and 'subscription' is the noun.
(A) 'subscriber' is incorrect because its noun form refers to a
person who is subscribed to a service, not the service itself.
This doesn't fit the grammar rule or the context of the
sentence.
(B) 'subscribes' is incorrect because it's a verb form and the
sentence requires a noun after the preposition 'to' and determiner
'a'. This choice doesn't fit the grammar rule or the context of
the sentence.
(C) 'subscribe' is also incorrect because it's an infinitive verb
form. In this sentence, we need a noun after the preposition 'to'
and determiner 'a', not a verb. This choice doesn't fit the
grammar rule or the context of the sentence.
Example: Due to a _______ in commodity prices, several local
manufacturers are concerned about the future.
(A) hike
(B) hiking
(C) hikes
(D) hiker
The correct answer is (A) hike.
The grammar rule that is applied here is "determiner + noun". The
determiner is 'a', and the noun is 'hike'. The word 'hike' in this
context is used as a noun which means a sudden increase or rise.
It is a singular noun which matches the singular determiner 'a'.
Now, let's look at why the other options are incorrect:
(B) hiking: The word 'hiking' is the present participle form of
the verb 'hike,' used to denote an ongoing action. In the given
sentence, the rise in commodity prices has already happened, so
it's not correct to use 'hiking'.
(C) hikes: This is the plural form of the noun 'hike'. Using
'hikes' after 'a' would be grammatically incorrect because 'a' is
a singular determiner and should be followed by a singular
noun.
(D) hiker: A 'hiker' is a person who walks for long distances,
especially across the country. This is not related to the context
of the sentence which is about commodity prices, not outdoor
activities or sports. Therefore, 'hiker' is not a suitable
choice.