Words for health, and talking about amounts
You can use health words accurately, and choose much or many, few or a few, by checking the noun first.
My doctor gave me many advices. An examiner understands that sentence, and still counts a mistake in it.
Advice cannot be counted in English, so it has no plural and cannot follow many. Grammatical Range and Accuracy is one of four equally weighted criteria in Writing, and in Speaking too.
Health is full of nouns like advice. First come the words for the topic, then the grammar for saying how much or how many.
Warm-up
Much or many?
The examiner asks: Do you get enough exercise? One answer has no grammar mistake.
Which answer is correct?
Words for health
Each card says whether the noun can be counted. You will need that for the grammar after the cards.
Exercise and diet
Countable. A session of exercise, often in a gym. She does a twenty-minute workout before work.
Uncountable. How strong and healthy your body is. Cycling to work has improved my fitness.
Countable. A way of living with a lot of sitting and little movement. Office work often means a sedentary lifestyle.
Countable. Food of different kinds, in sensible amounts. A balanced diet includes plenty of vegetables.
Uncountable. Food with a lot of fat, sugar or salt, such as crisps and fried snacks. Junk food is cheap and quick, so students often live on it.
Illness and health care
Countable. A sign of illness, such as a cough or a high temperature. Tell the doctor about all your symptoms.
Countable. A visit to a doctor or dentist to make sure you are healthy. My company pays for a yearly check-up.
Uncountable. Being so overweight that it harms your health. Obesity raises the risk of heart disease.
Uncountable. The health of your mind: how you think and feel. Regular exercise is good for mental health.
Uncountable. Stopping an illness before it starts. The clinic now spends more on prevention.
Grammar: how much and how many
A countable noun has a plural and can take a or an: a symptom, two symptoms. An uncountable noun has no plural and no a: advice, information, research, equipment, fitness.
The words for amounts follow the same split. Look at the noun first, then choose the word.
With plural nouns. many patients, a large number of clinics, few adults, fewer visits
With uncountable nouns. much sugar, a small amount of salt, little exercise, less time
With both kinds. a lot of steps, a lot of sleep, some advice, more fruit, most people
Few and a few
With a, few and little mean some: a few people, a little time. Without a, they mean almost none, and they sound negative.
- A few of my colleagues cycle to work. Some of them do.
- Few of my colleagues cycle to work. Almost nobody does.
Mistakes to look for
- many advices, an information: these nouns have no plural and no a. Write a lot of advice, some information or a piece of advice.
- a large amount of people: people can be counted, so write a large number of people.
- The number of smokers have fallen. The subject is the number, which is singular: has fallen. After a number of, the verb is plural: A number of clinics have closed.
- less people: in exam writing, use fewer with plural nouns. Fewer people, less time.
- I eat much fruit. On its own in a positive sentence, much sounds stiff, so write a lot of fruit. It is natural in questions and negatives: I don't eat much fruit.
Watch me do one
A sentence from a student's essay: A large amount of adults eat too many junk food and do little exercises.
First I find the nouns after the amount words: adults, junk food, exercises. For each one I ask whether I could put a number in front of it.
Two adults works, so amount is wrong. I write a large number of adults.
Two junk foods sounds wrong, because junk food is uncountable. So too many becomes too much.
Exercise can be counted when it means one movement, as in stretching exercises. Here it means physical activity in general, so it loses the s. Little stays, because the writer means almost none.
The corrected sentence: A large number of adults eat too much junk food and do little exercise.
Practice with Elita6 questions
Six questions. The first four are about amounts, and the last two about the words.
Number or amount?
Look at the noun after the gap before you choose.
The clinic sees a large ______ of patients every Monday morning.
Two questions from Part 1
Fill each gap with one word. Check the noun that comes after each gap.
How hours of sleep do you get on a work night, and how coffee do you drink?
Write no more than 1 word in each gap.
Few or a few?
Read the sentence and choose what the speaker means.
Read thisFew of my friends play a team sport.
What does the speaker mean?
Find the mistake
These sentences come from one Task 2 paragraph. One has a grammar mistake. Choose it.
Which sentence contains the error?
Words and meanings
Match each word to its meaning.
One word from the cards
Complete the sentence with one word from this lesson.
Many office workers sit all day and then drive home, so they lead a lifestyle.
Write no more than 1 word.
Use it
Your week, then and now
Compare your habits now with your habits five years ago, in four or five sentences.
Compare your week now with your week five years ago: exercise, sleep, food, or anything else about your health. Use at least three words for amounts (such as much, many, a few, a little, fewer, less, a number of) and two words from this lesson.
0 / 50 words
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Before you go
Before you write much or many, ask whether you could put a number in front of the noun.
Use a number of with plural nouns and an amount of with uncountable ones. The number of takes a singular verb.
Write a few or a little when you mean some, and few or little when you mean almost none.
Advice, information, research and equipment never take an s or an a.
Next: Next, you read an opinion article about counting daily steps and decide what its writer thinks.