Partitives
Partitives help us talk about a specific amount, container, shape, group, or unit of something. They are very common with uncountable nouns, but they are also used with countable nouns when we want to describe how things are grouped or presented.
The usual pattern is: partitive noun + of + noun.
Containers and measurements
- a tin of soup / tomatoes / beans
- a barrel of oil / water / beer
- a pint of milk / cream / beer
- a bowl of soup / cereal / rice
- a spoonful of sugar / medicine / soup / honey
Food and natural units
- a clove of garlic
- a bulb of garlic / onion
- a head of lettuce / cabbage
- a stalk of celery / broccoli / rhubarb
- a wedge of cheese / lemon / cake
- a grain of rice / sand / salt
- a crumb of bread / cake / biscuit
- a lump of coal / sugar / clay
Groups and collections
- a bunch of bananas / grapes / flowers / keys
- a flock of sheep / birds / geese
- a deck of cards
- a dozen of eggs / roses / doughnuts (usually: a dozen eggs)
- a series of events / questions / accidents
Piles and quantities
- a pile of books / clothes / leaves
- a stack of plates / papers / boxes
- a heap of rubbish / sand / stones
- a handful of raisins / coins / nuts
- a sack of coal / flour / potatoes
- a load of washing / laundry / bricks
Abstract nouns
With some uncountable abstract nouns, we use the word piece when we want to express one specific item or a number of such items.
- a piece of advice (one individual suggestion or recommendation)
- a piece of information (one individual fact or item of information)
- two pieces of news (two individual news items)
The words advice, information, and news do not have plural forms, so we use the structure a piece (two/three/many pieces) of + uncountable noun.
Nature
- a crash of thunder
Summary
Some partitives describe a container (a tin of soup, a bowl of soup) or the natural shape of something (a clove of garlic, a head of lettuce). Some describe a group (a bunch of flowers, a flock of sheep). Others describe a quantity or arrangement (a handful of coins, a stack of papers).
Remember that the noun after of can be either countable or uncountable, depending on the expression.
