2015-09-07
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1. ARTICLES
- There are only two types of articles in English: indefinite ‘a, an’ and definite ‘ the. ’
Indefinite articles ‘a’ and ‘ an’ have the meaning ‘one’or ‘any’, they are used with singular countable nouns also they are used before nouns that introduce something or someone you have not mentioned before:
- I saw an elephant this morning.
- I ate a banana for lunch.
- A and an are used when talking about one’s profession:
- I am an English teacher.
- He is a builder.
- Definite article – ‘the’ is used with singular and plural nouns, countable and uncontable ones to talk about something specific.
- The apple you ate was rotten.
- Did you lock the car?
- You should also use the when you have already mentioned the thing you are talking about.
- She's got two children; a girl and a boy.
- The girl's eight and the boy's fourteen.
- We use the to talk about geographical points on the globe.
the North Pole, the equator
- We use the to talk about rivers, oceans and seas
a. the Nile, the Pacific, the English channel
- We also use the before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular thing (it is unique).
b. the rain, the sun, the wind, the world, the earth, the White House etc.
However if you want to describe a particular instance of these you should use a/an.
c. I could hear the wind. / There's a cold wind blowing.
d. What are your plans for the future? / She has a promising future ahead of her.
The is also used to say that a particular person or thing being mentioned is the best, most famous, etc. In this use, ' the ' is usually given strong pronunciation.
e. Harry's Bar is the place to go.
f. You don't mean you met the Tony Blair, do you?
Note:
The doesn't mean all:
- The books are expensive. = (Not all books are expensive, just the ones I'm talking about.)
- Books are expensive. = (All books are expensive.)
2. NOUNS: SINGULAR, PLURAL
singular + -s
| singular | Plural |
| a car | two cars |
| a cassette | two cassettes |
Add -es after sibilants:
| singular | plural |
| a box | two boxes |
| a sandwich | two sandwiches |
| a suitcase | two suitcases |
| a rose | two roses |
| a garage | two garages |
Substitute -y after consonant with -ies:
| singular | plural |
| a city | two cities |
| a lady | two ladies |
Add -s after vowel + y:
| singular | plural |
| a boy | two boys |
| a day | two days |
Nouns on -f or -fe:
| add -s | substitute with -ves | ||
| singular | plural | singular | plural |
| a roof | two roofs | a thief | two thieves |
| a cliff | two cliffs | a wife | two wives |
| a sheriff | two sheriffs | a shelf | two shelves |
Nouns on -o form the plural by adding -s or -es.
| add -s | substitute with -ves | ||
| singular | plural | singular | plural |
| a disco | two discos | a tomato | two tomatoes |
| a piano | two pianos | a potato | two potatoes |
| a photo | two photos | a hero | two heroes |
Some nouns can have two plural forms:
buffalo – buffalos / buffaloes
mosquito – mosquitos / mosquitoes
tornado – tornados / tornadoes
Irregular plural forms:
| singular | plural |
| a man | two men |
| a woman | two women |
| a child | two children |
| a mouse | two mice |
| a tooth | two teeth |
| a goose | two geese |
| a foot | two feet |
| an ox | two oxen |
3. THERE IS / THERE ARE
There is / There are is a common phrase in English, used to indicate that something exists or is in a certain location. The main subject follows the verb when there is/are is used.
- There is an apple on the table.
- There are some apples on the table.
- Are there any apples in the shop?
- There are no apples in my bag.
Other forms of the verb ‘to be’ can also be used with there is/there are.
- There will be a party at Bill's house on Saturday.
- There were four witnesses at the crime scene.
- There have been two robberies in the last five months.
Contractions are possible, but they are mostly used in informal speech.
- There's a fly in my soup.
- There're plenty of oranges left.
