Collins Cobuild English Grammar (53 page)

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Authors: Collins

BOOK: Collins Cobuild English Grammar

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It was evaluated by an independent
team of
inspectors.
A
group of
journalists gathered at the airport to watch us take off.
…a
bunch of
flowers.

Here is a list of partitives referring to groups:

audience of

bunch of

clump of

company of

family of

flock of

gang of

group of

herd of

team of

troupe of

BE CREATIVE

You can use any noun referring to a group of people or things in this way. For example, you can talk about
an army of volunteers
.

measurement nouns

2.199
Nouns referring to measurements are often used in partitive structures to talk about an amount of something that is a particular length, area, volume, or weight. Uncountable nouns are used after
of
in structures referring to length, and both uncountable and plural nouns are used in structures referring to weight.

…ten
yards of
velvet.
Thousands of
square miles of
land have been contaminated.
I drink a
pint of
milk a day.
…three
pounds of
strawberries.
…10
ounces of
cheese.

Nouns referring to measurements are explained in paragraphs
2.250
to
2.257
.

referring to contents and containers

2.200
You use partitives when you want to talk about the contents of a container as well as to the container itself. For example, you can refer to a carton filled with milk as
a carton of milk
.

I went to buy a
bag of
chips.
The waiter appeared with a
bottle of
red wine.
…a
packet of
cigarettes.
…a
pot of
honey.
…
tubes of
glue.

You can also use partitives to refer to the contents only.

They drank another
bottle of
champagne.
She ate a whole
box of
chocolates.

Here is a list of partitives referring to containers:

bag of

barrel of

basin of

basket of

bottle of

bowl of

box of

bucket of

can of

carton of

case of

cask of

crate of

cup of

glass of

jar of

jug of

mug of

pack of

packet of

plate of

pot of

sack of

spoon of

tablespoon of

tank of

teaspoon of

tin of

tub of

tube of

tumbler of

ending in
-ful

2.201
You can add
-ful
to these partitives referring to containers.

He brought me a
bagful of
sweets.
Pour a
bucketful of
cold water on the ash.
…a
cupful of
boiled water.
…a
tankful of
petrol.

Here is a list of partitives referring to containers that are very commonly used with
-ful
:

bag

basket

box

bucket

cup

plate

spoon

tablespoon

tank

teaspoon

When people want to make a noun ending in
-ful
plural, they usually add an
-s
to the end of the word, as in
bucketfuls
. However some people put the
-s
in front of
-ful
, as in
bucketsful
.

She ladled three
spoonfuls of
sugar into my tea.
They were collecting
basketfuls of
apples.
…two
teaspoonfuls of
powder.
…2
teaspoonsful of
milk.

BE CREATIVE

2.202
You can also add
-ful
to other partitives.

Eleanor was holding an
armful of
red roses.
I went outside to throw a
handful of
bread to the birds.
He took another
mouthful of
whisky.
…a
houseful of
children.

USAGE NOTE

2.203
You sometimes use a mass noun instead of a partitive structure. For example,
two teas
means the same as
two cups of tea
, and
two sugars
means
two spoonfuls of sugar
.

We drank a couple of
beers
.
I asked for two
coffees
with milk.

Mass nouns
are explained in paragraphs
1.28
to
1.31
.

referring to parts and fractions

2.204
You use a partitive when you want to talk about a part or a fraction of a particular thing.

I spent a large
part of
my life in broadcasting.
The system is breaking down in many
parts of
Africa.
A large
portion of
the university budget goes into the Community Services area.
…a mass movement involving all
segments of
society.