Para contar o cuantifcar un nombre incontable (an uncoutable noun) lo que hacemos es usar una unidad de medida, o lo que se llama en inglés “a measure word”. Por ejemplo, en inglés no podemos decir “two breads” porque “bread” es incontable (excepto en algunos casos). Así que si queremos especificar la cantidad de “bread” que queremos usar, tendremos que usar una unidad de medida como “loaf” o “slice” en una estructura como puede ser “two loaves of bread” o “two slices of bread”. Llamando así a esta estructura “Partitive sctructure”.Podéis encontrar más información en inglés aquí, y en español aquí.
Y es por eso que hace un tiempo descubrí este listado de 100 partitive expressions with Uncountable Nouns , y he decidido traducir la lista, con los ejemplos originales. Aquí tenéis la primera parte (las otras dos vendrán en los próximos días). Ideal para imprimir, aprender bien como usar este tipo de estructura y a ponerlas por doquier. También os puede resultar muy útil a la hora de aprender algunas de las expresiones más comunes entre los angloparlantes.
| a torrent of abuse
Un torrente de insultos |
The manager was so angry that he let loose a torrent of abuse at his workers. |
| a breath of fresh air
Una bocanada de aire fresco |
The room was crowded and I felt faint so I went outside for a breath of fresh air. |
| a fit of anger
Un ataque de ira |
Harry slapped his girlfriend in a fit of anger. |
| a piece of advice
Un consejo |
Can I offer you a piece of advice about investing your savings? |
| a work of art
Una obra de arte |
Everyone says her garden’s a work of art, it’s so beautiful. |
| a rasher of bacon
Una loncha de bacón/beicon |
How many rashers of bacon would you like with your breakfast? |
| a glass of beer
Un vaso de cerveza |
If you drink more than two glasses of beer, you shouldn’t drive a car. |
| a drop of blood
Una gota de sangre |
There were two or three drops of blood on the carpet. |
| a spot of bother
Un pequeño/ligero problema |
I’m in a spot of bother because I can’t find my car keys, and I’m already late. |
| a loaf of bread
Una barra de pan |
How much does a loaf of bread cost in Japan? |
| a pat of butter
Una porción de mantequilla |
Could I have three pats of butter and some jam, please? |
| a game of chess
Una partida de ajedrez |
We played three games of chess, and Bobby won all of them. |
| a bar of chocolate
Una tableta de chocolate |
If you’re a good boy, I’ll give you a bar of chocolate. |
| an item of clothing
Una prenda de vestir |
Put any items of clothing you no longer need into this box. |
| a lump of coal
Un trozo de carbón |
The kids found some lumps of coal beside the railway tracks, and took them home. |
| a cup of coffee
Una taza de café |
The first thing I do when I get to work is have a cup of coffee. |
| an ear of corn
Una mazorca de maíz |
Ears of corn are usually steamed or boiled and then served with butter. |
| a scrap of difference
No hacer caso/Producir indeferencia |
I told him not to go but it didn’t make a scrap of difference.le dije que no fuese pero no me hizo el más mínimo caso |
| a speck of dust
Una mota de polvo |
They have no kids, and you won’t find a speck of dust in their home. |
| a scrap of evidence
Una pizca de evidencia |
There wasn’t a scrap of evidence to prove he’d done it, but he was still sent to jail for life. |
| an item of expenditure
Gasto de un artículo |
You must have a receipt for every item of expenditure you want to claim. |
| an article of faith
Un artículo de fe |
Freedom of expression is an article of faith among truly democratic people. |
| a morsel of food
Un bocado/trozo (de comida) |
There wasn’t a morsel of food left in the house, so we had to go out for dinner. |
| a piece of fruit
Una pieza de fruta |
Everyone should eat at least three pieces of fruit a day. |
| a bit of fun
Un poco de diversión |
After working hard all day, we felt like having a bit of fun. |
| a piece of furniture
Un mueble |
We need a piece of furniture that will look good in that empty corner. |
| a clove of garlic
Un diente de ajo |
Take two cloves of garlic, crush them, and then add them to the soup. |
| a pane of glass
Un/a panel/lámina de vidrio/cristal |
You have to be very careful when transporting panes of glass. |
| a blade of grass
Una brizna de hierba |
The ant walked all the way up the blade of grass, and then all the way down again. |
| a pang of guilt
Una punzada de culpa/Tener remordimientos |
When I saw my brother being punished for what I’d done, I felt a pang of guilt. |
| a lock of hair
Un mechón de pelo |
He kept a lock of her hair in a small tin box with his other most precious possessions. |
| a jar of honey
Un tarro de miel |
She stuck her fingers into the jar of honey, and then slowly licked them clean. |
Como siempre, si véis algún error, podéis comentarlo tranquilamente.
Nota: Debido a que WordPress no se lleva muy bien con las tablas realizadas en programas de ofimática como Word, las tablas no aparecen, pero al guardar esta noticia en formato .pdf (al final de la noticia donde pone Read it Offline) se podrán ver las tablas perfectamente.
Fuente: EnglishClub