English Advanced Grammar Exercises – Noun phrases exercise

A. Circle the correct word. If both are correct, circle both.

1   Are those sheep / sheeps or goats in that field over there?

2   How many sister-in-laws / sisters-in-law have you got?

3   Look at those lovely little fish / fishes!

4   I’ve only got one important piece of new / news to tell you, I think.

5   The hairdresser quickly swept up the hair / hairs on the floor.

6   I’ll be giving you a lot of information / informations, so do please take notes.

7   We’ve bought quite a lot of furniture / furnitures in the last few days.

8   Could you give us both permission / permissions to miss PE tomorrow?

9   Physic / Physics is my favourite subject by far.

10   I think I’ve got some money / monies on me.

11   I’m going to give them all the advice / advices I can.

12   What kind of jewellery / jewelleries are you interested in getting?

13   Would you like some chocolate / chocolates?

14   You’ve got to have very good general knowledge / knowledges to go on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

15   I’ve always been interested in politic / politics.

B. Complete using the correct form of the verb in brackets.

1   ……………………. (be) all the furniture very expensive when you got it?

2   My earnings ……………………. (increase) considerably over the last two years.

3   ……………………. (be) all the luggage yours?

4   Your pyjamas ……………………. (be) on your bed, I think.

5   Politics ……………………. (be) a love of mine, as well as my profession.

6   ……………………. (be) your team doing well in the league right now?

7   The people over there ……………………. (need) serving.

8   ……………………. (be) the news good or bad?

9   There ……………………. (be) blood all over the floor!

10   The cattle ……………………. (eat) at the moment.

11   Diabetes ……………………. (be) very common these days.

12   Where ……………………. (be) the scissors?

13   My work ……………………. (be) the most important thing in my life.

14   I think the milk ……………………. (go off). Shall I pour it away?

15   The jeans I tried on in the shop yesterday ……………………. (be) far too small.

C. If a word in bold is correct, put a tick. If it is in the wrong sentence, write the correct word on the line.

1   I’m off to the newsagent’s to get a pair of chocolate. Do you want anything? ……………………

2   Could you get me a flock of chewing gum when you go to the shops? ……………………

3   I think I’ll have another herd of toast. ……………………

4   Just add a breath of milk if the mixture starts to get a bit dry. ……………………

5   I’m popping out for a pack of fresh air. Do you want to come? ……………………

6   There was a block of cows being taken down the lane for milking, and it took us ages to get by. ……………………

7   You said you wanted to get a new bar of trousers, didn’t you? ……………………

8   Get us a bunch of bread when you go to the shops, won’t you? ……………………

9   I was thinking of getting Jill a blade of flowers for our anniversary. Do you think that’s romantic? ……………………

10   There was a really strong drop of wind and it blew a man’s wig off! …………………….

11   My mum’s so houseproud; there’s never a gust of dust anywhere in the house. ……………………

12   Could you cut me off a small slice of that cheese? ……………………

13   That speck of birds will be migrating south for the winter, I’d imagine. ……………………

14   Since we got the goat, there’s not a loaf of grass longer than about two centimetres! ……………………

15   We do like a nice bit of steak every now and again, don’t we, Francis? ……………………

16   How heavy’s that sheet of concrete, would you say? ……………………

17   We’ll give you a set of keys and a security pass. ……………………

18   There’s not a grain of truth in what she said. ……………………

19   Is one piece of sugar enough? ……………………

20   I’ll tear you off a lump of paper if you’re going to take notes. ……………………

D Complete the pairs of sentences using the correct form of a word in the box.

1   Right! I’m off to ……………………. .

     How many ……………………. of art by Picasso can you actually name?

2   The storm did quite a lot of ……………………., so I hear.

     The jury awarded them ……………………. of over €500,000.

3   I don’t think I’ve ever baked three ……………………. from scratch in one day.

     Would you like another piece of …………………….?

4   Thanks, you’ve been a great ……………………. .

     Without your ……………………., we don’t know what we’d have done.

5   Ed was looking in the mirror and noticed one of his ……………………. had gone grey.

     I gather that long ……………………. is back in fashion amongst the young.

6   Did you know that ……………………. is actually a kind of liquid?

     I can’t find my ……………………. . Have you seen them anywhere?

7   Is your left ……………………. really longer than your right?

    The ……………………. trade is an industry I’d rather have nothing to do with.

8   Let’s have a picnic in the ……………………. .

     That table’s not made of ……………………. . It’s plastic!

9   Phil’s ……………………. of eighteenth century pottery is astounding.

     Phil’s got a great ……………………. of eighteenth century pottery.

10   No one can hear you scream in ……………………. because there’s no sound.

       Why are there no parking ……………………. round here at all?

11   How did people write things down before ……………………. was invented?

       The story appeared in most of the Sunday ……………………. .

12   One of our ……………………. is ill so we’ve had to call the vet out.

       This ……………………. tastes delicious!

13   How many ……………………. have I told you not to do that?

       What ……………………. did you get home last night?

14   Let’s get a big bar of milk ……………………. .

       Oh no! There are only two ……………………. left in the box!

E. Complete each second sentence using one of the two words in bold and any other words you need so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence.

1   Only two boys volunteered to hand out programmes. double / couple

     Only ………………………………… boys volunteered to hand out programmes.

2   There were quite a few people at the party who I knew. number / amount

     There were ………………………………… people at the party who I knew.

3   When I was small, I’d never heard of computers. tittle / few

     When I was ………………………………… girl, I’d never heard of computers.

4   There’s not much ketchup left in the bottle. little / few

     There’s only ………………………………… ketchup left in the bottle.

5   Some kids have put their names down already. little / few

     ………………………………… kids have put their names down already.

6   I haven’t got much money on me, I’m afraid. number / amount

     I’ve only got ………………………………… money on me, I’m afraid.

7   I didn’t understand a lot of what she said, to be honest. much / many

     I didn’t understand ………………………………… what she said, to be honest.

8   Not enough British people can speak a foreign language. little / few

     ………………………………… British people can speak a foreign language.

F. Circle the correct word or phrase. More than one option may be correct in each sentence.

1   Would you like any / some coffee?

2   I’ve hardly got any / some money left!

3   Only a few/ Few / A few of the ducks have names.

4   I’ve only got a little / little / a small amount of time, so make it quick!

5   Neither / Neither of the / Both guards was injured in the attack.

6   All / Most / Many / Much / Both of the clothes were filthy.

7   None / Half / Whole / Each / Every of the glasses had been smashed.

8   Each / Every / All student in the class whose surname begins with a vowel, please stand up.

9   There’s a little / little / not much / not many we can do about the situation, I’m afraid.

10   We’ve got most / plenty / a lot / lots / lot of time, don’t worry.

G. Complete the sentences with a, an or the. If no article is required, put a dash (-).

1   I think there’s ……….. chemist open in ……….. main road somewhere.

2   One of ……….. people who I met at ……….. lecture ……….. last night is ……….. architect for quite ……….. well-known firm.

3   ……….. quality screwdriver is ……….. essential part of any tool box.

4   Who designed ……….. invitations for ……….. wedding?

5   ……….. poor and ……….. elderly are often left behind when it comes to ……….. modern technology.

6   When I was at ……….. school, we had to wear ……….. shorts until we were ……….. 11 and then

we were allowed to wear ……….. pair of long trousers.

7   I met ……….. writer ……….. Catherine Hawkins ……….. other day. She signed ……….. copy of her ……….. latest book for me.

8   I honestly believe that ……….. car is one of ……….. worst inventions in ……….. history of ……….. world.

9   Is that ……….. ewe or ……….. elk?

10   What’s ……….. difference between ……….. unicorn and ……….. postbox? You don’t know? Then, I’m not going to ask you to post ……….. letter for me!

H. Circle the correct answer.

5   Hardly ……………. of the paintings at the gallery were for sale.

      A none   B few

      C some   D any

6   It’s ……………. opportunity to see African wildlife in its natural environment.

      A an unique   B a unique

      C the unique   D unique

7   You can’t just demand ……………., you have to earn it.

      A a respect   B the respect

      C any respect   D respect

8   Almost ……………. person I’ve asked says they’re going on the anti-war demonstration next Saturday.

      A every   B each

      C all the   D the entire

I. Write one word in each gap.

Artists and money

In publishing, (1) …………………… author will usually earn royalties on sales. For (2) …………………… book sold, the author gets a percentage. The more successful the author, the more they are able to negotiate with their publisher, and (3) …………………… bigger the percentage they can get. Although the ‘struggling author’ is still common, it is quite possible for a successful novelist to earn a (4) …………………… deal of money. You only have to look at (5) …………………… children’s author J. K. Rowling to see that.

For a painter or sculptor, however, the situation is more difficult. A painter sells his or her work for (6) …………………… fee. As the painter becomes more successful, the painting becomes valuable. (7) …………………… time it is sold, its value increases. The painter doesn’t receive (8) …………………… benefit from this, though. To make money, the artist has to be continually producing new pieces. More than a (9) …………………… artists today, however, are very aware of this, and so practise what is sometimes called ‘holding back’. They produce, say, ten paintings for an exhibition, but only allow a certain (10) …………………… of them, say eight, to be sold. The other two they keep, in (11) …………………… hope that when they sell them in later years they will have greatly increased in value.

For musicians, there are royalties for performance (eg on CD) and for writing. However, since (12) …………………… illegal transfer of digital music via the Internet has become widespread, (13) …………………… songwriters and performers have become worried that their main source of income will dry up. Certainly, the (14) …………………… music industry – be it pop, rock or classical – is in turmoil at the moment, but its future is not bleak. There is still a huge (15) …………………… of money to be made from live performances.