Learn how to use non-count nouns
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Natalie: Good morning! |
| Braden: Braden here. English Nouns, Part 3: Counters |
| Braden: In this lesson, you'll learn how to count non-count nouns. |
| Natalie: This conversation takes place on the plane during the shift. |
| Braden: And it’s between Ashley and David. |
| Natalie: David and Ashley are friends and are speaking casually. |
| Braden: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Ashley: Hey David! We'll be landing in Dallas soon. More warm weather for you! |
| David: Thanks Ashley but we're not even getting off the plane in Dallas. We're just making a connection to Houston. |
| Ashley: I know but you get to stand by the door this time saying goodbye to the passengers. You'll be able to feel the nice warm Dallas air. |
| David: Hey thanks! I'm moving up! |
| Ashley: Ha! Just a piece of advice, though, make sure to have a glass of water nearby. You'll need it after saying "Goodbye!" and "Thanks for flying with us!" three hundred times. |
| Braden: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Ashley: Hey David! We'll be landing in Dallas soon. More warm weather for you! |
| David: Thanks Ashley but we're not even getting off the plane in Dallas. We're just making a connection to Houston. |
| Ashley: I know but you get to stand by the door this time saying goodbye to the passengers. You'll be able to feel the nice warm Dallas air. |
| David: Hey thanks! I'm moving up! |
| Ashley: Ha! Just a piece of advice, though, make sure to have a glass of water nearby. You'll need it after saying "Goodbye!" and "Thanks for flying with us!" three hundred times. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: So, we wanted to talk a little bit about Dallas. |
| Natalie: That's right. Dallas is the 9th largest city in the United States with a population of 1. 2 million people. Dallas is the largest economic center of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area which has a population of 6. 4 million. |
| Braden: The metropolitan area has a gross metropolitan product of $374 billion annually. That's a lot of money, in case you were wondering. |
| Natalie: Yes it is. The city of Dallas also has 12 Fortune 500 companies including Kimberly-Clark, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, RadioShack, and Exxon Mobil. |
| Braden: Dallas is also home to teams in all 4 of the major sports – the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League, the Dallas Mavericks of the national basketball Association, the Texas Rangers of the Maj. league baseball, and the Dallas stars of the National Hockey League. |
| Natalie: In 2011 Dallas became the 1st city to host the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the NBA finals all within the same 12 month period. There is also a major league soccer team called FC Dallas. |
| Braden: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Braden: The first word we're going to look at is... |
| Natalie: plane [natural native speed] |
| Braden: an airplane |
| Natalie: plane [slowly - broken down by syllable] plane [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: connecting [natural native speed] |
| Braden: bringing together or into contact so that a link is established |
| Natalie: connecting [slowly - broken down by syllable] connecting [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: stand [natural native speed] |
| Braden: have or maintain an upright position |
| Natalie: stand [slowly - broken down by syllable] stand [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: passengers [natural native speed] |
| Braden: travelers on a public or private trip that are not the driver |
| Natalie: passengers [slowly - broken down by syllable] passengers [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: able [natural native speed] |
| Braden: having the power, skill, ability, or opportunity to do something |
| Natalie: able [slowly - broken down by syllable] able [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: air [natural native speed] |
| Braden: the invisible gas surrounding the earth |
| Natalie: air [slowly - broken down by syllable] air [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: glass [natural native speed] |
| Braden: the amount of drink contained in a glass |
| Natalie: glass [slowly - broken down by syllable] glass [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: hundred [natural native speed] |
| Braden: cardinal number; the number equivalent to 10 times 10 |
| Natalie: hundred [slowly - broken down by syllable] hundred [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Braden: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Natalie: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase “moving up.” |
| Braden: Now, “moving up” is a phrasal verb and is part of a larger expression “moving up in the world.” |
| Natalie: The idea here is that David is “progressing” or “getting more advanced in” his job. |
| Braden: It’s kind of like getting a promotion at work, just without the pay raise. |
| Natalie: That's right. “Moving up in the world” doesn't necessarily have to coincide with some kind of physical move in position, like a promotion. |
| Braden: For example, when a young person turns 18 you could say that they are “moving up in the world” because they are now legally an adult. |
| Natalie: And, they can vote. |
| Braden: Could you break this down for us? |
| Natalie: (slowly) moving up |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Natalie: (fast) moving up |
| Braden: Perfect! What’s next? |
| Natalie: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase “get to.” |
| Braden: In the dialogue, this is part of a larger phrase “you get to stand by the door.” Two things happen in this phrase. |
| Natalie: The first is a feeling of permission. The word “get” has an underlying feeling of “allow” or in other words, he now has permission to stand by the door. |
| Braden: Which is something he couldn’t do before. |
| Natalie: The second thing is a feeling of privilege. When someone uses the word “get” in this way, it has a feeling of “privilege.” |
| Braden: In other words, he wasn't allowed to stand by the door but now he has “moved up in the world,” so therefore he can have the privilege of standing by the door. |
| Natalie: I hope that makes sense! |
| Braden: Could you break this down for us? |
| Natalie: (slowly) get to |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Natalie: (fast) get to |
| Braden: Excellent! Let’s take a look at the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Braden: So Natalie, what’s the focus of this lesson? |
| Natalie: The focus of this lesson is how to count non-count nouns |
| Braden: In the dialogue we heard the phrase |
| Natalie: Just a piece of advice, make sure to have a glass of water nearby. |
| Braden: In this lesson, we're going to do something impossible. We are going to count non-count nouns which are supposed to be uncountable. |
| Natalie: However, with the English language having so many exceptions, it has a mechanism we can use to count something which is not countable. |
| Braden: We do this using something called a “counter” or a measurement word or phrase. |
| Natalie: Some examples of these counters are – “four slices of fish” Or “two loaves of bread” |
| Braden: Many English learners become concerned about these "counters” because they can seem random. |
| Natalie: However, “counter” words are most often words that describe the physical state or the appearance of the non-count noun. |
| Braden: For example – “a bar of soap” which actually looks like a “bar” of soap |
| Natalie: Or "a glass of water" which actually is a "glass" of water. |
| Braden: Next, we are going to look at three common counter words and two short phrases to use each one. |
| Natalie: The first phrase we will look at is “bar of.” This phrase is most often used for things that are in a "bar" shape, like chocolate and soap. |
| Braden: For example – “four bars of soap" or "ten bars of chocolate" |
| Natalie: The second phrase we're going to look at is "cube of." This phrase is used with things that have a "cube" shape, like ice and sugar. |
| Braden: For example, "two cubes of sugar" and "four cubes of ice" |
| Natalie: Last we'll look at the phrase "piece of." This phrase is used with things that are usually either broken or cut or naturally are in pieces, like cheese, machines, or information. |
| Braden: In the dialogue we heard the phrase – "Just a piece of advice" |
| Natalie: Another option could be – "I just found a piece of machinery." |
| Braden: Should we review this lesson? |
| Natalie: Let's! I think it would be good. |
| Braden: We just did something that should be impossible; we counted non-count nouns. |
| Natalie: We were able to do this because the English language has many exceptions. |
| Braden: There are special phrases and words called "counters" or "measurement words" that can be used to "count" non-count nouns. |
| Natalie: The trick with “counters” in English is that they most often describe the physical state or the appearance of the non count noun. |
| Braden: Like “a cube of ice” or “a bar of soap.” |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for this lesson. Thanks for listening. |
| Natalie: Bye-bye! |
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