WORKSHEET ON UNIT 2.

THE NOMINAL GROUP

1. Fill the gaps in these sentences with a, an, ø or the correct form of a suitable verb. If
there are two possible answers, put both possibilities.
1. Have you put__________________ pepper in this dish? I like plenty of seasoning.
2. What he’d really like us to buy him for his birthday ____________ some new Nike
trainers.
3. Rickets ________________ a disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin D.
4. I first felt the desire to visit Venice when looking at _______________ painting by
Canaletto.
5. You can’t hold a classical concert in the village hall; the acoustics __________
terrible.
6. A large number of police officers _____________ present at the demonstration
last week in case of trouble.
7. At present 10,000 kilometres ____________ the longest walking competition held
in the Olympics.
8. ‘What have we got for supper?’ ‘Salmon. I got _____________ a huge fish at the
fishmonger’s for only five pounds.’
9. Either the twins or John, the eldest brother, _____________ going to make a
speech at the Golden Wedding party.
10. My brother thinks that economics _____________ really interesting. I disagree.
11. Saudi Arabia, along with most of the oil-producing nations, ___________ voted to
raise the price of crude oil again.
12. That band _______________ always had a reputation for performing better in the
studio than live.
13. Both my brother and sister ________________ lived in this town all their lives.
14. We developed _____________ passion for Baroque music at university.
15. Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding _____________ definitely still the favourite of
many British people.

2. Read this story and fill in the gaps with the correct article: a/an, the, ø. For one gap
you will need a possessive adjective.

I first experienced terror when I was seven. My mother lived in London, but after a
brief liaison with (1) ___________ soldier from the United States she became pregnant
and fled to (2) _______________ country. (At that time, fifty years ago, it was
considered shameful to be a single parent.) A great aunt of hers lived in (3)
____________ cottage in (4) ___________ North Wales, and there she was able to
bring me up in (5) _______________ peace, pretending that she was (6) __________
widow. (7)_________________ locals were all very friendly to us and accepted us
without question, and I had (8) ___________________ blissful childhood.

One day I arrived home from (9)_______________ school to find my mother clutching
(10)__________________ telegram, in floods of tears. (11) ________________
telegram informed her that her father –my grandfather- had died. His funeral would
be in three days and we had to go to London. I had never been outside (12)
___________ village and I was really excited at the thought of going to (13)
_____________ capital city. So, two days later, we boarded (14) _________ train to
London. It was (15) ________________ first time I had been on (16) ______________
 train and I could barely contain (17) excitement of such an adventure. Several hours
later we arrived. I clutched my mother’s hand as we stepped down from the train. (18)
______________ station was full of people rushing home from (19) ______________
work and it was quite dark. Now (20) ______________ fear was starting to creep into
my mind. Then, suddenly, we were in (21) ______________ street outside the station.
I had never seen so many people, buses and cars, nor heard so much noise. I was
terrified. I opened (22) ____________ mouth and the wail that I let escape was one of
(23) __________ sheer terror.

3. Complete these short sentences with an appropriate article: a/an, the, ø.

1. He’s got _____________ asthma.

2. The ring is just a band of _________ gold.
3. It prints seven pages ___________ minute.
4. Let’s have a weekend in _____________ mountains.
5. She’s at _________ work.
6. It’s in _____________ Tasman Sea.
7. Sorry – it is ___________ wrong answer.
8. It appeared in __________ New York Times.
9. She’s always been __________ catholic.
10. What’s for __________ dinner?
11. We’re going on a day trip by _____________ coach.
12. They’re flying to __________ Seychelles.
13. It’s __________ best solution.
14. Can you ski ____________ Mont Blanc?
15. It’s quite warm there in ___________ winter.
16. We all need ___________ oxygen.
17. We’ve had over ____________ dozen applicants.
18. She works in __________ television.
19. It’s all ________ better If you can come early.
20. He was crowned _____________ king.

4. Complete the dialogue with a demonstrative adjective or pronoun from the box.

This (x3) That (x4) these (x1) those (x2)

A: What’s on TV tonight, do you know?

B: No. Why don’t you look in the paper you’re reading?

A: _________ paper doesn’t have TV listings.

B: Oh, right. Well try __________ on on the shelf, over there.

A: OK…yes, let’s see. There’s nothing much on _____________ days at all, is there? It’s
all soaps and detective series.

B: Mmmm. I thought there was always a serious documentary on Tuesday evenings.

___________ one last week on homelessness was really interesting.
 A: Yes, you’re right. There’s one on travelers. Listen. ____________ is awful. ‘Although
landowners may lose income while travelers are on their land, there is no fast route to
evicting them. _____________ who go through the courts often have to take out more
than one injunction before the matter is settled.’

B: Well, what do you expect? The travelers need somewhere to live, like the rest of us.
The government should give them land.

A: ___________’s no solution, is it? They want to travel, not to settle.

B: How do you know? There was _________ story in my magazine about travelers
from year ago and the encampments they made –they were allowed to settle down
then.

A: Yes, but in ________ days there was more free land. Land is __________ valuable
today, people use every bit of it and don’t want travelers on their land.

B: Mmmm, well why don’t we turn the TV on and find out what the documentary
says?

5. Which of the three predeterminers all, both and half could acceptably replace X as
predeterminers? (More than one answer may be acceptable).

1. I have read X of this book already.

2. I have read X of these books already.
3. X the students were away.
4. X had flu.
5. They X had a high fever.
6. X of them had to go to hospital.
7. X the medicine they took was no use.
8. It X cost a lot of money.
9. They were X away for weeks.
10. Doctor Bland attended them X.
11. He visited X of them everyday.
12. He was sometimes up X the night.
13. Once or twice he was up X night.
14. The patients have X recovered.

6. Complete the table below to illustrate the co-occurrence of quantifiers with count
nouns, singular and plural, and with noncount nouns.

Quantifier Count, plural Non-count Pronominal

A large amount of
A great deal of
Enough
(a)Few
(a)little
A lot of
Much
 A large number of
Plenty of
Several

7. Specific or generic reference. Indicate whether the noun underlined has generic or
specific reference.

1. The pen is mightier than the sword.

2. The pen I bought yesterday has broken already.
3. There is a cat on the roof.
4. A cat is a domestic animal.
5. Cats have been domesticated for centuries.
6. There were cats everywhere.
7. The Japanese work very hard.
8. The Japanese were listening patiently.
9. The Welsh love to sing in chorus.
10. The Welshmen were singing lustily.

8. Do the underlined nouns in the following sentences have a count or mass

interpretation?

1. Would you prefer tea or coffee?

2. I’ll have a coffee, pleae; with just a drop of milk and two sugars.
3. Would you care for a cake?
4. No, thanks,, I’m watching my weight.

9. Many nouns are able to act as both count nouns and mass nouns, each with a
different meaning. For each of the following nouns, devise a pair of sentences which
illustrate the differences between the count and mass meanings.

Example:

Gold: Gold is a precious metal (Mass). She has won yet another gold (count).

Hair, glass, lemonade, paper, weakness.

10. Are the underlined NGs in the following sentences definite or indefinite?

1. Sue was the best player in both tournaments.

2. Many spectators were injured in the collapse.
3. Could you give me some help with my assignment?
4. Every exit has been sealed to prevent their escape.

11. Select determiners, predeterminer and postdeterminers in order to form the

following:

1. Three NGs with a combination of predeterminer+determiner.

 2. Theree NGs with a combination of determiner+postdeterminer.
3. Three NGs with a combination of predeterminer+determiner+postdeterminer.

12. The following are ambiguous between a reading where:

a) The head is followed by two PrepGs.

b) The head is followed by one PrepGp (with another PrepG embedded in it)

1. Guardians of children with criminal records.

2. A purveyor of small goods from Turkey.
3. The report of the train disaster on Tuesday.
4. Some photographs of the girls on the sofa.

13. Make a list of the NGs in the following sentences and underline the head word in
each one. Remember the NG may have other NGs embedded within them:

1. Please don’t tell the family that pathetic joke about the Irish pilot.
2. People shouldn’t treat the rumours about Tom’s lifestyle with such indifference.
3. Every contestant in the quest will win a prize which will be treasured for years.

14. ANALYSE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES

(1) Their neighbours next door are always very noisy.

(2) He wants an appointment in the afternoon.
(3) That little corner shop has closed down.
(4) They're on the shelf at the bottom.
(5) The police are looking for the mother of the girl.
(6) It's a new Russian film about the war.
(7) I'm looking forward to the final episode next week.
(8) We're going to see a popular musical in the West End.
(9) We stopped at a hamburger restaurant along the motorway.
(10) It's a very popular riverside pub.
(11) It's the first turning on the left.
(12) He lives in the house opposite.
(13) The house has a big back garden.
(14) He has a good job in the City.
(15) There are still a few seats available at the front.
(16) We have twice weekly meetings.
(17) The people missing were last seen two weeks before.
(18) He was in love with the girl of his best friend.
(19) He knows a lot of old folk songs from Cornwall.
(20) We'll have a holiday in the summer in a little town by the seaside

15. Read the following passage and analyse the underlined nominal groups into "d m h
q" structures ("d" = determiner). Are the determiners specific or non-specific? What
do they indicate in terms of the information which the passage assumes that the
reader already has? Identify any of these words which express a reference back in
the text, and contrast the use of the indefinite and definite articles in the underlined
groups, and consider whether alternatives could have been selected.
 "It is vital to get to know your architect well. Look at photographs of houses he has
designed, go for walks with him and discuss your likes and dislikes.
An architect likes to be brought in early in the project, preferably even before you have
bought the site. He can make sure you do not spend too much on ground works or
putting in services.
He will draw up a brief, which is a rough outline of what you want. Then the first
sketches are penned. After negotiations with the planning department, detailed designs
are prepared, other specialists such as engineers are lined up, and the architect prepares
working drawings".

16. Read the following passage and analyse the underlined nominal groups into their
structural elements. Mark also the pre-determiners, and classify the deictics in terms
of whether they are specific or non-specific.

"Invest in a Wates home at Hanworth. It could be the best move you'll ever make. When you
choose one of these quality-built homes at Hanworth, you're investing in all the comfort,
convenience, style and prestige that goes with every Wates-built home".