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The Noun
Noun classes:
(1)countable nouns= they denote individual countable entities (bottle, chair, forest, idea).
(2)uncountable nouns=they denote undifferentiated mass or continuum (bread, grass,
music, furniture, gold, money).
The language makes it possible to look upon some objects from the point of view of both
countable and uncountable:
Would you like a cake? (countable)-No, I don’t like cake. (uncountable)
She was a beauty. (countable)-She had great beauty. (uncountable)
She had many difficulties. (countable)-She had much difficulty. (uncountable)
2. -a noun like “coffee” which is normally uncountable (Do you want tea or coffee?) can
be considered a countable noun:
Can I have a coffee, please? (a cup of coffee)
This is a nice coffee. (type, kind, brand of coffee)
I like Brazilian coffees best. (type, kind, brand of coffee)
-some English uncountable nouns correspond to count nouns in some other languages:
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1. VARIABLE NOUNS:
-note the special case of the collective nouns: committee, family, team, army
When used in the singular (My family is larger than his), the non-personal collectivity
of the group is stressed; when used in the plural (My family are at home), the personal
individuality within the group is stressed.
Regular plurals
-the plural suffix is written “-s” after nouns (hat=>hats)
There are however several exceptions to this rule:
a. after nouns ending in “-s”,, “-z”, “-x”, “-ch”, “-sh” the plural ending is “-es”:
gas=>gases, box=>boxes, bush=>bushes
b. nouns ending in “-o” have plurals in “-os” or “-oes”: just “s” in the case of proper
nouns, abbreviations.
-radios, pianos, Eskimos
-nouns with plurals only in “-oes”: heroes, potatoes, tomatoes, echoes
-nouns that have both“-os” and “-oes” plurals: volcanos/oes, tornados/oes, cargos/oes
c. nouns ending in “-y” preceded by a consonant change the “y” :
sky=>skies (“y” is kept after a vowel: day=>days)
d. the final consonant is doubled in a few nouns: fez=>fezzes, quiz=>quizzes
e. the apostrophe s (‘s) is used in: in the 1980’s, write two b’s
f. beliefs, cliffs, proofs, roofs / knives, leaves, halves, calves, leaves, shelves, thieves /
handkerchieves/fs, scarves/fs
Irregular plurals
a. the plural is formed by a change of vowel in the following seven nouns:
man=>men woman=>women
foot=>feet tooth=>teeth
goose=>geese louse=>lice
mouse=>mice
c. zero plural
Some nouns have the same form in singular and plural:
c.1-animal names: sheep(These sheep are ours./This sheep is alright.), deer
- fishes: denotes different species as in “the fishes of the Mediterranean”.
c.2-nationality names, nouns ending in “-ese” have zero plural: one/five Chinese (also
one/two Swiss)
c.3-quantitive nouns, dozen, hundred, thousand, million have zero plural when they are
preceded by another quantitative word: two hundred people, many thousand times,
several million inhabitants (but the plural form is used when they are followed by “of”:
hundreds of people, thousands of spectators)
c.4-nouns with equivocal number, nouns that can be treated as singular or plural:
means- “a means of communication” but “use all means possible”
series-“This new series is delayed.” but also “These new series are delayed.”
species-“This species is now extinct.” but also “These species are no extinct.”
d. foreign plurals
-nouns from Latin: stimulus=>stimuli, nucleus=>nuclei (but also nucleuses),
antenna=>antennae, alga=>algae
-nouns from Greek: analysis=>analyses, crisis=>crises, basis=>bases,
criterion=>criteria, phenomenon=>phenomena
e. compounds nouns which consist of more than one word (babysitter, close-up etc.)
e.1-nouns with plural in the last element: assistant-directors, grown-ups,
attorney/generals, forget-me-nots
e.2-nouns with plural in the first element: passers-by, mothers-in-law (but also mother-
in-laws), commanders-in-chief
e.3- nouns with plural in both first and last element: women doctors, gentlemen
farmers.
a. concrete mass nouns (generally names of materials): silver, sugar, tobacco, furniture,
milk
! if in the plural, they have stylistic use = kinds of
b. nouns that end in “-s” and in a given sense only occur in the plural and take a plural
verb(damages: These damages are paid.):
contents (table of…), customs (go through customs at the airport), goods (property,
merchandise), wages (weekly pay), spirits, compasses, premises.
c. nouns that have no plural marking but are used as plurals: people (when it means
“nation” it can be used as a plural: the English-speaking peoples), police (The police
have caught the burglar), cattle (The cattle are in the field), clergy, youth.
d. personal adjectival heads: the rich, the poor, the wounded, the unemployed, the
needy.
3. Gender
In English unlike many other related languages, nouns, determiners and adjectives are
not marked inflectionally for gender distinctions (do not generally have specific
suffixes to mark gender).
b. personal dual gender: friend, doctor, teacher, student, speaker. If information on the
sex of the person is necessary a gender marker may be added (male student/female
student);
e.g. Tom cat, Pussy/ Cathy cat, he/she lion, boy/girlfriend, male/female engineer, woman
doctor;
A. 1. apostrophe s ('s) is used with singular nouns and plural nouns not ending in “-
s”:
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! other names ending in “-s” can take 's or the apostrophe alone:
Mr Smiths' s (or Mr Smiths' house) Yeats's (or Yeats ') poems
Articles
B. Use of a/an
a/an is used:
1. before a singular noun which is countable ( of which there is more than one) when it
is mentioned for the first time and represents no particular person or thing:
I need a camera. They live in a flat. He bought an ice-cream.
2. before a singular countable noun which is used as an example of a class of things:
A car must be insured (= All cars/Any car must be insured.)
A child needs love (= All children need/Any child needs love.)
3. with names of professions:
She'll be a dancer. He is an actor.
4. in certain expressions of quantity:
a lot of a couple
a great many
C. Omission of a/an
a/an is omitted:
1. after the verb turn: to turn coward/ traitor
2. in reversed word-order: Brute as he was, he still wanted to help her.
3. before names of meals, except when these are preceded by an adjective:
We have breakfast at eight.
He gave us a good breakfast.
The article is also used when it is a special meal given to celebrate something or
in someone's honour:
I was invited to dinner (at their house, in the ordinary way) but I was invited
to a dinner given to welcome the new ambassador.
4. with nouns denoting unique task: President, Captain, PM
5. the is used before certain proper names of seas, rivers, groups of islands, chains of
mountains, plural names of countries, deserts, regions:
the Atlantic the Netherlands
the Thames the Sahara
the Alps the Riviera
-and before certain other names:
the Mall the Sudan
the Hague the Yemen
-the is also used before names consisting of noun + of + noun:
the Bay of Biscay the Gulf of Mexico
the Cape of Good Hope the United States of America
-the is used before names consisting of adjective + noun (provided the adjective is not
east, west etc.):
the Arabian Sea the New Forest the High Street
-the is used before the adjectives east/west etc. + noun in certain names:
the East/West End the East/West Indies the North/South Pole
but is normally omitted:
South Africa North America West Germany
-the, however, is used before east/west etc. when these are nouns:
the north of Spain the West (geographical)
the Middle East the West (political)
-compare Go north (adverb: in a northerly direction) with He lives in the north (noun: an
area in the north).
6. the is used before other proper names consisting of adjective + noun or noun + of +
noun:
the National Gallery, the Tower of London
-it is also used before names of choirs, orchestras, pop groups etc.:
the Bach Choir the Philadelphia Orchestra the Beatles
and before names of newspapers (The Times) and ships (the Great Britain).
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F. Omission of the
1. The definite article is not used:
1a. before names of places except as shown above, or before names of people.
1b. before abstract nouns except when they are used in a particular sense:
Men fear death but The death of the Prime Minister left his party without a leader.
1c. after a noun in the possessive case, or a possessive adjective:
the boy's uncle( = the uncle of the boy)
It is my (blue) book (= The (blue) book is mine.)
1d. before names of meals:
The Scots have porridge for breakfast but
The wedding breakfast was held in her father's house.
1e. before names of games: He plays golf.
1f. before parts of the body and articles of clothing, as these normally prefer a possessive
adjective: Raise your right hand. He took off his coat.
-but notice that sentences of the type:
She seized the child's collar. I patted his shoulder.
The brick hit John's face.
could be expressed:
She seized the child by the collar. I patted him on the shoulder.
The brick hit John in the face.
-similarly in the passive:
He was hit on the head. He was cut in the hand.
2. Note that in some European languages the definite article is used before indefinite
plural nouns but that in English the is never used in this way:
Women are expected to like babies. (i.e. women in general)
Big hotels all over the world are very much the same.
-if we put the before women in the first example, it would mean that we were referring to
a particular group of women.
3. nature, where it means the spirit creating and motivating the world of plants and
animals etc., is used without the: If you interfere with nature you will suffer for it.
G. Omission of the before home, before church, hospital, prison, school etc. and
before work, sea and town
1. home
-when home is used alone (is not preceded or followed by a descriptive word or
phrase), the is omitted:
-home used alone can be placed directly after a verb of motion or verb of motion +
object, i.e. it can be treated as an adverb:
He went home. I arrived home after dark.I sent him home.
-but when home is preceded or followed by a descriptive word or phrase it is treated like
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THE VERB
1. VERB CATEGORIES:
Primary:
Tense: (present/past/future)
Aspect: (simple/continuous/perfect/perfect continuous)
Voice: (passive/active)
Mood: (indicative/subjunctive/imperative)
Secondary:
Person: (1st/2nd/3rd)
Number: ( sg./pl.)
1. TENSE:
2. ASPECT:
DEFINITION: Aspect is the grammatical category of the verb, reflecting the status of the
action with respect to duration, result, etc. thus different ways of viewing the internal
temporal situation; it is the subjective point of view relative to time.
So, all combinations resulting from merging TENSE/EXTERNAL TIME (objective time
itself) and ASPECT/INTERNAL TIME (subjective time) are referred to as TENSES:
FORMING TENSES
Have + V3
Be + V1-ing
_________________
have + been +V1-ing has been writing
PRESENT TENSES
1.1. It is used:
- to describe general truths and states which are regarded as permanent:
Water boils at 100 degrees.
- to describe repeated actions or habits:
What time does Mary finish work?
- exclamations introduced by “here/there”:
Here comes Mary!
- explanations, demonstrations:
I add the sugar to the egg yolks and place the basin over a saucepan of hot water.
- instead of the present continuous with verbs that cannot be used in the
progressive form;
- to refer to future events over which we have no personal control because they
are determined by calendars, timetables, programmes:
The plane arrives on Monday at a 10 p.m.
Our term starts at the beginning of October.
- instead of the future in a subordinate clause of time or condition:
Call me when you arrive.
1.4. EXAMPLES:
1.4.1. AFFIRMATIVE: The student writes formulae every day.
1.4.2. INTEROGATIVE: Does the student write any formulae every day?
1.4.3. NEGATIVE: No, the student doesn’t write any formulae.
2.1. It is used:
- to represent an action, viewed in progress (continuous) at the very time of
speech:
I’m listening to music now.
- to represent an action viewed in progress (continuous) at the Time of speech
(present), even if not literally at the very moment of speaking:
I’m looking for a job.
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We are eating in the kitchen now, but we generally eat in the dining room.
2.4. EXAMPLES:
2.4.1. AFFIRMATIVE: The student is writing a formula right now.
2.4.2. INTEROGATIVE: Is the student writing a formula right now?
2.4.3. NEGATIVE; No, the student isn’t writing a formula right now.
3.1. It is used:
- to express a completed action (perfect) still having an effect or result in the
moment of speaking (present):
He has washed his car.
- to denote an action which began in the past and is still continuing at the moment
of speaking:
He has known me for two years.
- instead of future perfect in temporal clauses:
I’ll let you know when I have finished.
3.3. ADVERBS: (of interval, time span, period, uncompleted time interval)
- just, yet, already, never, ever;
- for…, since…;
- lately, recently;
- this morning, this afternoon, this evening, this night, this week, this month, this
year, this, spring, this century;
3.4. EXAMPLES:
3.4.1. AFFIRMATIVE: The student has already written the formula.
3.4.2. INTEROGATIVE: Has the student already written the formula?
3.4.3. NEGATIVE: No, the student hasn’t written the formula yet.
4.1. It is used:
- to express an activity still in progress (continuous) at the moment of speaking:
I’ve been waiting for an hour and he hasn’t turned up yet.
- to express an activity begun in the past which has only just finished and is
relevant to the current situation:
Sorry I’m late. Have you been waiting long?
PAST TENSE
1.1. It is used:
- to represent simple actions completed at a definite time in the past:
I met him yesterday.
- to describe habitual, repeated actions in the past, and with verbs of permanent
characteristic:
She always wore black.
I met him every day on my way to the office.
1.4. EXAMPLES:
1.4.1. AFFIRMATIVE: The student wrote that formula ten minutes ago.
1.4.2. INTEROGATIVE: Did the student write that formula ten minutes ago.
1.4.3. NEGATIVE: No, the student didn’t write that formula ten minutes ago.
2.1. It is used:
- to represent an action viewed in progress before the moment of speaking at some
point in the past:
When I arrived, Tom was talking on the phone.
2.4. EXAMPLES:
2.4.1. AFFIRMATIVE: The student was writing the formula at this time
yesterday.
2.4.2. INTEROGATIVE: Was the student writing the formula at this time
yesterday?
2.4.3. NEGATIVE: No, the student wasn’t writing the formula at this time
yesterday.
3.1. It is used:
- to represent an action completed before another action or moment in the past:
He had read the novel before he saw the film.
- to denote an action that began before another moment in the past and
continued up to that time:
In 1990, we had known each other for ten years.
- to replace the present perfect and the past simple in reported speech:
He told us he had been ill for months.
3.4. EXAMPLES:
3.4.1. AFFIRMATIVE: The student had written the formula before he took the
test .
3.4.2. INTEROGATIVE: Had the student written the formula before he took the
test?
3.4.3. NEGATIVE: No, the student hadn’t written the formula before he took
the test.
4.1. It is used:
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4.4. EXAMPLES:
4.4.1. AFFIRMATIVE: The student had been writing for ten minutes, when the
test was over.
4.4.2. INTEROGATIVE: Had the student been writing for ten minutes, when the
test was over?
4.4.3. NEGATIVE: No the student hadn’t been writing for ten minutes, when
the test was over.
1.1. DEFINITION:
- is used to denote simple actions to be performed in the future, while the
performance of an action or the occurrence of an event in the future may be
caused by objective circumstances or by a mixture of the former and a
personal element; it may also depend on a condition:
I shall be twenty next month.
When will you leave?
1.4. EXAMPLES:
1.4.1. AFFIRMATIVE: The student will write the formula in ten minutes.
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1.4.2. INTEROGATIVE: Will the student write the formula in ten minutes.
1.4.3. NEGATIVE: No, the student won’t write the formula in ten minutes.
2.4. EXAMPLES:
2.4.1. AFFIRMATIVE: The student will be writing a formula during the next
two minutes.
2.4.2. INTEROGATIVE: Will the student be writing a formula during the next
two minutes?
2.4.3. NEGATIVE: No, the student won’t be writing the formula during the next
two minutes.
3.3. ADVERBS: (of definite point or period in the future and of interval of time)
- tomorrow; at this time tomorrow;
- next week, next month, next year, next century;
- in 2055; in two years; after a few days; the following day;
- when….future action;
- for…; since…; by…; already;
3.4. EXAMPLES:
3.4.1. AFFIRMATIVE: By 10 o’clock the student will have already written that
formula.
3.4.2. INTEROGATIVE: Will the student have already written that formula by
10 o’clock?
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3.4.3. NEGATIVE: No, the student won’t have written that formula yet by 10
o’clock.
4.1. It is used to represent a partly completed action still viewed in progress at some
point in the future:
She will have been working there for 40 years in April this year.
4.2. FORM: [ WILL/SHALL + HAVE + BEEN + V1-ing ]
4.3. ADVERBS: (of definite point or period in the future and of interval of time)
- tomorrow; at this time tomorrow;
- next week, next month, next year, next century;
- in 2055; in two years; after a few days; the following day;
- when….future action;
- for…; since…; by…; already;
4.4. EXAMPLES:
4.4.1. AFFIRMATIVE: By 10 o’clock the student will have been writing that
formula for ten minutes.
4.4.2. INTEROGATIVE: Will the student have been writing that formula for ten
minutes by 10 o’clock?
4.4.3. NEGATIVE: No, the student won’t have been writing that formula for ten
minutes for ten minutes by 10 o’clock.
5. Present simple
6. Present continuous
7. BE GOING TO – is used to express the subject’s intention with or without a time
expression:
I’m going to tell him what I think of him.
- it is used to express a future action whose signs are visible at present:
It’s going to rain.
1. BASIC CONSIDERATIONS
Voice is a grammatical category which makes it possible to view the action of a sentence
in two ways without change in the facts reported. Consider the following examples:
In the first sentence the person who did the action (your friend) is the subject, and
comes first; then we say what he did by using the verb (ruined) and what he did it to,
namely the object (my party). In the second sentence, something different
happens: we start by talking about the party (thus the object of the first sentence has
become the subject of the second); then we say what was done to it (was ruined), and
who this was done by (your friend). The first sentence and the verb form used in it are
called active. The second sentence and the verb form used in it are called passive.
Therefore the subject in the active sentence becomes object in the passive one.
We form the passive by using the verb “to be” in an appropriate tense followed by the
Past Participle of the main verb. The main verb is always a transitive verb.
In spoken English we sometimes use the verb “to get” instead of “to be” in the passive.
Passive verb forms may be used with the different tenses of the verb “to be” followed by
a Past Participle. The tenses and the rules for their use are the same as for active verb
forms. Thus we have:
Modals in the Present – This medicine should not be taken more than twice a day.
Modals in the Past ( Perfect Modals ) – The pyramids must have been built more than
5,000 years ago.
Present Infinitive (“to be” + Past Participle) – He wants to be taken seriously all the
time.
Perfect Infinitive (“to have been” + Past Participle) – He was pleased to have been
awarded the first prize.
Present Gerund (“being” + Past Participle) – I enjoy being given flowers.
Perfect Gerund (“having been” + Past Participle) – Having been stung by bees she has
no love of insects.
• to focus on the action when the agent is either not important, unknown or obvious.
Jane was extremely surprised by all the messages of encouragement she received.
• to make a statement more impersonal and formal by avoiding the use of personal
pronouns or vague words
You must hand in your applications before the end of the month. Becomes: All
applications must be handed in before the end of the month.
• in factual writing when the focus is usually on events, achievements rather than
agents.
The time taken to travel between the units is calculated by the microprocessor.
*Note that not all ‘to be” + Past Participle verb forms are passive. They may also be
adjectives:
The agent in a passive sentence is the same person or thing as the subject of an active
sentence. Compare:
The agent is only expressed when it is important to say who or what something is
done by. In most passive sentences there is no agent as we have no interest in who or
what performs the action. What we are interested in is the action itself, who or what is
affected by the action, or what is the result of it. Statistics show that only about 20%
of passive sentences mention the agent:
We mention the agent when we consider that the information provided by it is really
important, especially if we want to say more about it with a relative clause:
The survivors were rescued from the water by a cruise liner which had heard their
desperate calls.
I remember being taught English by a wonderful teacher who was really
passionate about everything she was doing.
The agent is usually introduced with “by” but after some Participles which are used
like adjectives, other prepositions are used instead of “by” to introduce the agent:
Many verbs, such as give, tell, send, show, lend, get, bring, buy, hand, offer, pay, teach,
write, can be followed by two objects ( a Direct Object and an Indirect Object), which
usually refer to a person and a thing. These verbs that have two objects in the active voice
usually have two passive forms because either of the objects can become subjects.
Consider the following examples:
( IO) ( DO )
Active = He sent her a letter.
Passive = A letter was sent to her.
Passive = She was sent a letter.
( DO) ( IO )
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We usually add a preposition before the personal object. Usually this preposition is “to” .
Sometimes we may use “for” as well.
We can use some verbs, such as allow, ask, cause, forgive, deny, without a preposition:
• we cannot use intransitive verbs in the passive because they don’t have an object
that can be changed into the subject
• the verbs “to suggest” and “to explain” cannot change the indirect object to
subject:
• after some verbs, the Direct Object can be followed by a noun or adjective which
describes the object:
We cannot use the verb “to let” in the passive when it is followed by a verb phrase.
Therefore in such cases it should be replaced by “ to be allowed to “ or “to be
permitted to”.
Nevertheless we can use the verb “to let” in the passive in some fixed phrases.
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After verbs referring to mental processes, such as think, say, believe, feel, presume,
understand, know or reporting verbs , such as claim, mention, request, point out, rumour
the passive can be formed in two ways:
a) It + passive verb + “that” Clause
b) Subject + passive verb + Present/Perfect Infinitive.
The latter construction is generally used in written English. It is often used in
newspaper reports to avoid mentioning the source of the information. Consider the
following examples :
4.1. Causatives
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We use “get” and “have” in both active and passive voice when we talk about
making other people do something for us.
• The active patterns meaning ‘cause or order somebody to do something’ are the
following:
“get” + person + Long Infinitive ( with the particle “to”)
“have” + person + Short Infinitive ( without the particle “to”)
* Note that “have “ is much more common in American English while “get “ is
common in spoken British English
• the passive pattern meaning ‘arrange for somebody else to do something’ is the
following:
“get/have” + object + Past Participle
• without including it in the group of causatives one should mention the frequent
use of the pattern “have” + object + Past participle to describe things that happen
to us, often misfortunes. In these cases the subject is the person who experiences
what happened.
*Note that sometimes it is only the context that can provide the exact meaning:
They had their house demolished. (The two possible meanings are the following:
either they employed someone to demolish their house = causative; or the house was
demolished without their knowing it)
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THE SUBJUNCTIVE
an - UNREAL
- VIRTUAL states or events
- UNACCOMPLISHED
IND. - factual
SUBJ. - non-factual
I. The synthetical subjunctive with the old form is also called PRESENT
SUBJUNCTIVE by some grammarians. Its meaning shows an event or state which can
be fulfilled and which is thus assumed possible. This is why this mood can convey
assumption, time, concession, conditions, wishes, order, doubts, purpose, requests.
The syntactical subjunctive does not enjoy a wide circulation in British English,
but it is quite frequently used in American English.
a. Independent sentences and main clauses make use of this mood in formulaic set
phrases sometimes:
"Long live king George"
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if only + would can express regret about a present action , an alternative to if only
+ past tense ( it has the same meaning as wish + would)
If only he would drive more slowly = we are sorry he isn't welling to drive more
slowly.
Wish + would
Would is used after wish to express a not very hopeful wish concerning the future:
I wish it would stop raining.
- will / would may be used in clauses of purpose to form the analytical subjunctive:
They are climbing higher so that they will get a better view.
He worked late last night so that he would be free today.
Should + Infinitive replaces the synthetically subjunctive and this shows that an
action is desired / possible.
It appears:
• recommend,
• advise can take
either gerund + Poss.
or infinitive + Acc
or should
d. determined
was determined take either infinitive
agreed or
demanded should
He agreed to divide the prize between Tom and Ann
He agreed that Tom and Ann should share the prize.
e. arrange
stipulate can be followed by for + object + infinitive
be anxious or should construction
I am anxious for nobody to know where I am going.
I am anxious that nobody should know when I am going.
f. order
command
urge
- it is / was - necessary
- admissible
- essential
- better
- vital
- important
- right
- fair these are often preceded by only
- natural
- just
- reasonable
as an alternative to a for + infinitive construction
It is better for him to hear it from you that he should hear it from you.