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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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