English grammar today

Quantity expressions (a bit/piece)

To refer to one or more quantities of an uncountable noun, expressions such as a bit of, a piece of, an item of or words for containers and measures must be used:

He bought a very expensive piece of furniture for his new apartment.

Maggie always has some exciting bits of news when she comes to see us.

I think we’ll need five bags of cement for the patio.

There’s a litre of milk in the fridge for you. And I bought you a bar of chocolate.

Determiners (my, some, the)

Uncountable nouns can be used with certain determiners (e.g. my, her, some, any, no, the, this, that) and expressions of quantity (e.g. a lot of, (a) little):

They gave me some information about courses and scholarships and things.

Have you heard the news? Fran’s getting engaged.

She’s been studying hard and has made a lot of progress.

There’s no work to do here, so you can go home if you like.

This milk’s a bit old, I’m afraid.