Countable & Uncountable Nouns- Inflation Basket Discussion

Countable and uncountable nouns – the UK inflation basket

You are going to discuss an “inflation basket”. What do you think it is? What might be in it? Why might it be in the news?

Discuss those questions as a class.

Try to guess what things are in these categories for the UK inflation basket.

Used to be in the inflation basket but were removed some time ago

 

 

 

 

 

 

Used to be in the inflation basket but were removed in 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have been in the inflation basket for a while and still are

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Were introduced to the inflation basket in 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have never been in the inflation basket

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add these things to the categories above. Some categories have none of these in them. 

• Canvas shoes
• Caravans
• Carpet shampooing
• Chiropractic
• Cigars
• Coal
• Cooking apples
• Crisps
• Dating agency fees
• Digital radios
• Fancier digital cameras with interchangeable lenses
• Fees charged by carpenters
• Fish and chips
• Flavoured milk
• Garlic bread
• Gas fires
• Hamsters
• Hand rolling tobacco
• Hiking boots
• Hiring men’s clothes
• Kebabs
• Knitting wool
• Lawnmowers
• Mangles (for drying clothes manually)
• Manicures
• Nanny fees
• On demand video streaming (watching movies etc online)
• Organic vegetables
• Pet insurance
• Plant food
• Rabbit meat
• Replica football team shirts
• Roasted peanuts
• Seeds for feeding wild birds
• Sleeping bags
• Snacking pots of prepared fresh fruit
• Sofa beds
• Trade union subscriptions
• Vegetarian burgers
• Wallpaper

Compare four of your ideas with the class, then look at the actual answers below.

Answers

The other categories have none of these in them.

Used to be in the inflation basket but were removed some time ago

Rabbit meat

Mangles (for drying clothes manually)

Have been in the inflation basket for a while and still are

Caravans

Carpet shampooing

Chiropractic

Cigars

Coal

Cooking apples

Crisps

Dating agency fees

Digital radios

Fees charged by carpenters

Fish and chips

Garlic bread

Gas fires

Hamsters

Hand rolling tobacco

Hiking boots

Kebabs

Knitting wool

Lawnmowers

Manicures

Nanny fees

Organic vegetables

Pet insurance

Replica football team shirts

Roasted peanuts

Sleeping bags

Sofa beds

Trade union subscriptions

Vegetarian burgers

Wallpaper

Were introduced to the inflation basket in 2014

On demand video streaming (watching movies etc online)

Fancier digital cameras with interchangeable lenses

Snacking pots of prepared fresh fruit

Seeds for feeding wild birds

Canvas shoes

Flavoured milk

Plant food

Hiring men’s clothes

Ask about anything you don’t understand, discussing how surprised you are each time.

 

Countable and uncountable grammar presentation

From memory and/ or your grammar knowledge, cross off “-s” in all the places where it shouldn’t go below.

Canvas shoes

Caravans

Carpet shampooings

Chiropractics

Cigars

Coals

Cooking apples

Crisps

Dating agency fees

Digital radios

Fancier digital cameras with interchangeable lenses

Fees charged by carpenters

Fishes and chips

Flavoured milks

Garlic breads

Gas fires

Hamsters

Hand rolling tobaccos

Hiking boots

Hiring men’s clothes

Kebabs

Knitting wools

Lawnmowers

Mangles (for drying clothes manually)

Manicures

Nanny fees

On demand video streamings (watching movies etc online)

Organic vegetables

Pet insurances

Plant foods

Rabbit meats

Replica football team shirts

Roasted peanuts

Seeds for feeding wild birds

Sleeping bags

Snacking pots of prepared fresh fruit

Sofa beds

Trade union subscriptions

Vegetarian burgers

Wallpapers

Check with the original list.

 

Final discussion and brainstorming 

What things surprised you about the list above (categories or things not mentioned)?

Which of those things would you include in an inflation basket in your country?

Brainstorm a list of possible things for your country’s inflation basket, then choose the top 12, trying to have a representative range of different goods.

Compare with other groups.

Discuss things that might have been in the inflation basket in the past but which wouldn’t be suitable now.

Useful language for talking about changes
Talking about time	Talking about popularity and importance
When I was (much) younger … (Back) in the (19)80s … For my grandparents’ generation… When my parents were growing up… When I was in primary school … Until a few years ago… When I was in my early/ mid/ late teens/ twenties/…	… were really popular. … were incredibly trendy. … everybody used to have. … everybody wanted … … everyone was into… … there was a… boom. … were fairly important. … we couldn’t live without…