15
There are a lot of vegetables.
Textbook: p. 20
GoalSay large amounts with “a lot of”; learn plural spelling rules.
New words
a lot of · ko‘phoney · asalrice · guruchpumpkin · qovoq
Explanation
“A lot of” means “much/many” with uncountable nouns and plural countable nouns: “There is a lot of milk. There are a lot of vegetables.” Use is with a singular uncountable noun and are with a plural noun. Plural spelling: most nouns add -s (boy – boys); after -s, -sh, -ch, -x add -es (box – boxes); consonant + y → -ies (strawberry – strawberries); -f/-fe → -ves (shelf – shelves); tomato – tomatoes, potato – potatoes. Special plurals: man – men, woman – women, child – children, foot – feet, mouse – mice; fish and sheep do not change.
Worked examples
“The busy squirrel”. In summer the forest has a lot of nuts and berries. A little squirrel is very busy. He takes a lot of nuts to his tree and hides them. His friend, a young rabbit, only plays. “Winter is coming,” says the squirrel. In winter the forest is white and there is no food. The squirrel has a lot of nuts, but the rabbit has nothing. Now the rabbit understands: it is important to prepare.
On the table there is a lot of bread and honey, and there are a lot of tomatoes and pumpkins.
Class activity
“There is a lot of …”: one team describes a picture of a table full of food; the other team finds the right picture.
Practice
1
Choose: There ___ a lot of milk. (is/are)
is
2
Write the plurals: tomato, strawberry, shelf
tomatoes, strawberries, shelves
3
Say that there is a lot of bread and a lot of apples on the table.
There is a lot of bread and there are a lot of apples on the table.
4
Why is with “a lot of bread” but are with “a lot of apples”?
Bread is uncountable and singular; apples is plural.