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EL BOLETIN DE INGLES
AMERICANO PREFERIDO POR LOS HISPANOPARLANTES |
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OM
News # 96 - Delivered to 42394 subscribers |
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ISSN 1668-4877
January
15, 2005 |
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Hi pal. Melting summer in
Buenos Aires and still no vacation for us.
In this issue, some useful tips for those subscribers having problems
with countable and uncountable nouns. Please, don't forget our draw on
January 20!! And if you like our portal, please
RATE US by
CLICKING
HERE.
See you again on February 1st.
Hola
amiga/o: Verano para derretirse en Buenos Aires y aún no podemos salir de
vacaciones. En esta entrega,
recomendaciones para quienes tienen problemas con los sustantivos
contables y no contables. No olvides el sorteo de Enero 20 !!
Y si te agrada nuestro portal,
CALIFICANOS
PULSANDO
AQUI.
Nos vemos el 1° de Febrero. |
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IN
THIS ISSUE: |
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Grammar Tips
How you can make
uncountable nouns singular |
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OM Lucky
Five special prizes:
New draw
on January 20 |
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OM Shopping
Our special offer New Year 2005 |
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MAKING UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS COUNTABLE. This
interesting grammar article will help you use uncountable nouns as
countable. Difficult? Let's see how to do it...
COMO CONVERTIR EN CONTABLES LOS
SUSTANTIVOS NO CONTABLES.
Este
interesante artículo gramatical te ayudará a utilizar como contables los
sustantivos no contables. ¿Complejo? Aquí te explicamos cómo hacerlo... |
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A PIECE OF... A (LITTLE) BIT OF...
You can make many
uncountable nouns singular by adding a
piece of or
a (little) bit of. Similarly, you can
make such nouns plural with
pieces of or (less frequently) bits of. Let see some examples:
Maria bought an attractive piece of furniture at an antique shop.
(María adquirió un interesante mueble en una tienda de antigüedades.)
a furniture (un mueble) is NOT
correct.
I'll need a little bit of information before making a decision.
(Necesitaré un poco de información antes de tomar una decisión.)
an information (información) is NOT
correct.
Frederick Chopin wrote some wonderful pieces of music in 1840.
(Federico Chopin escribió maravillosas obras musicales en 1840.)
some wonderful musics (obras maravillosas) is NOT correct.
Let me give you a bit of advice if you want to buy such an old house.
(Déjame darte algunos consejos si piensas comprar una casa tan
antigua.)
an advice / advices (un consejo/consejos) is NOT correct. |
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WEATHER: A SPELL OF... A FLASH OF...
A GUST OF...
A number of
weather-related words go with specific uncountable nouns:
In Argentina we are having a long spell of melting hot weather this summer.
(En Argentina estamos teniendo una temporada de excesivo calor este
verano.)
a melting hot weather (una temporada de
excesivo calor) is NOT correct.
The thunder came immediately after the
flash of lightning.
(El trueno vino inmediatamente después del relámpago.)
a lightning (un relámpago) is NOT
correct.
A sudden gust of wind turned my umbrella inside out.
(Una repentina ráfaga de viento dio vuelta mi paraguas.)
a wind (un viento) is NOT correct. |
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CONTAINERS: A LOAF OF... A SLICE
OF... A BAR OF...
Many familiar
groceries or container-related words are usually used with uncountable
nouns. Let's check them:
Could you get me
a loaf of bread, please?
(¿Podrías traerme un pan, por favor?)
a bread (un pan) is NOT correct.
Would you like another slice/piece of toast?
(¿Te gustaría otra tostada?)
another toast (otra tostada) is NOT
correct.
I'm going out to buy
a bar of chocolate round the corner.
(Saldré a comprar un chocolate aquí a la vuelta.)
a chocolate (un chocolate) is NOT
correct.
If you go to the supermarket, please buy three bars of soap.
(Si vas al supermercado compra tres jabones, por favor.)
three soaps (tres jabones) is NOT
correct.
Did you remember to buy
a tube of toothpaste?
(¿Te acordaste de comprar un dentífrico?)
a toothpaste (un dentífrico) is NOT
correct. |
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NATURE AND OTHERS:
CLOUD OF... BREATH OF... STROKE OF...
Some nature-related
words and other expressions can also go with uncountable nouns. Pay
attention to these examples:
What happened? Look at that
cloud of smoke over there!!
(¿Qué ocurrió? ¡¡ Mira ese humo allí !!)
a smoke (un humo) is NOT correct.
It's really hot in here!! Let's go out now and get a breath of fresh air.
(¡¡ Hace mucho calor aquí adentro !! Salgamos ya por un poco de aire
fresco.)
a fresh air (un aire fresco) is NOT
correct.
I had an incredible
stroke of luck this morning. I won the lottery!!
(Tuve una suerte increíble esta mañana. ¡¡ Gané la lotería !!)
a luck (una suerte) is NOT correct. |
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A USEFUL PHRASE: A
STATE OF...
The phrase
a state of (estado, circunstancia, situación, etc.) can
also be useful to make uncountable nouns singular. But those nouns are
usually abstract and include affairs, emergency, uncertainty, chaos,
disrepair, confusion, poverty, health, mind, and flux.
We moved over a month ago, but we are still in
a state of chaos.
(Nos mudamos hace más de un mes pero todavía es un caos.)
a chaos (un caos) is NOT correct.
Sandra seems to be in a state of confusion now, but she will be better soon.
(Sandra parece estar en una confusión ahora, pero pronto estará mejor.)
a confusion (una confusión) is NOT
correct. |
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GLOSSARY: container-related: relativos
a recipientes o contenedores; groceries: productos de
almacén; nature-related: relativos a la naturaleza; affairs: asuntos, casos, acontecimientos;
uncertainty: duda, incertidumbre; chaos:
caos, desorden; disrepair: desarreglo, descompostura; poverty: miseria, pobreza; health:
sanidad, salud; flux:
fusión. |
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On next January 20 we are
giving away five special prizes to FIVE WINNERS who are able to complete
the Money & Finances activity. Click on the image for directions.
Good luck!!
El próximo 20 de Enero entregaremos cinco premios especiales a CINCO
GANADORES que logren completar la actividad de Dinero y Finanzas.
Pulsa en la imagen para conocer las instrucciones. Buena suerte!! |
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next update: february 1, 2005 |
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OM NEWS es una publicación
quincenal de distribución gratuita perteneciente al portal OM Personal
Multimedia English www.ompersonal.com.ar. Responsable: Orlando Moure, Borges 2485, Piso
12, Dto. A, CP C1425FFI, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, República
Argentina. |
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