Autora: Maité Pérez Montes

Articles

• Definite Article• Indefinite Article• Exercises

Definite Article

• The definite article is the and it is used for singular and plural. It is also used before nouns that express the only one of its kind.

• Examples: the earth the sky the sun the moon the planet• It is used before a noun made definite by the addition of a phrase or clause.

• Examples:• The girl who wears blue jeans.• The man who came with the rain.• I saw the English teacher.• The is used before a noun which, by reason of locality, can represent only one

particular thing.

• Examples:• Ann is in the kitchen.• Please, give me the sugar.• The pizza in this restaurant is not good.• The is also used before superlative adjectives.

Indefinite Article• The indefinite articles are a or an. The form a is used before a word beginning

with a consonant or a vowel sounded like a consonant.• The form an is used before words beginning with a vowel or a mute h.• Examples:• a table a university an egg an hour• A is used before a countable singular noun and represents a particular person or

thing.• Examples:• I saw a woman.• A horse is an animal.• A dog can trap a mouse.• A is also used as a noun complement.• Examples:• She is a secretary.• She wrote a good book.• Henry is an excellent person.• A and an are used before certain numerical expressions and in expressions of

price, speed, ratio, etc.• Examples:• a dozen a hundred a ton a day an hour• two pounds a dollar

Exercises

• Write the or …. when the can be omitted.

• ____ Sky is blue and ____ sun is shining.• I don't like to listen ____ news on ____ radio.• When they left ____ airport they went ____ home.• Cars are producing ____ pollution every day.• It's a nice restaurant and ____ food is delicious.• Children learn to speak ____ languages fast.• Earth rotates around ____ Sun. • He left ____ home early and went to ____ movies.• Tigers are protected in ____ Indian jungle.• ____ envy is one of ____ worst human feelings.• ____ shrimps at ____ Henry's restaurant are good.• She likes to watch ____ horror films on ____ TV.• ____ Spacecrafts were invented in ____ 20th century.

NounsDefinition and classification

Plural of nounsPossessive case

Exercises

• Definition and classification• A noun is the name of anything. They are classified in:• common nouns: nouns that are the names given to people, things or

places of the same kind.• Examples:• dog, man, bird, bridge, etc.• Proper nouns: nouns given to a particular person, thing or place. They

begin with capital letter.• Examples:• John, Paris, Germany, Amazon, etc.• Abstract nouns: nouns that name qualities or ideas that you can not touch

or see. • Examples:• love, speed, beauty, etc.

Plural of nouns

• The plural of nouns are generally formed by adding s to the singular.

• Examples:

• car - cars pencil - pencils book - books boat – boats• Nouns ending in o, ss, sh, ch, or x form their plural by adding es.

• Examples:• potato - potatoes kiss - kisses brush -brushes• church - churches fox – foxes

• Foreign or abbreviated words ending in o add s only.

• Examples:• photo - photos piano - pianos dynamo – dynamos• Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant form their plurals by changing the y for an

i and adding es.• Examples:• secretary - secretaries baby - babies country - countries• • Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel form their plural by adding only s.• Examples:• toy - toys play - plays donkey - donkeys• Some nouns ending in f or fe form their plurals by changing the f or fe for ves.• Examples:• wolf - wolves knife - knives thief - thieves life – lives• There are nouns that form their plural by a vowel change.• Examples:• man - men woman - women foot – feet • tooth - teeth child – children

Possessive case

• The possessive case of singular nouns is formed by putting ('s) after the noun that stands for the possessor. Singular nouns ending in s only add the apostrophe ( ' ).

• Examples:• John's wife St. Patrick's church the boys' car• The possessive case of plural nouns is formed by placing an apostrophe (‘)

after the noun if the plural ends in s or by placing ('s) after the noun if the noun does not end in s.

• Examples:• the girls' books ladies’ room men's room

Exercises

• Fill in the blanks with the plural for each noun.

flower _________ sheep _________ party   _________

• woman _________ booth _________ wolf _______• coat _________ foot _________ bush ________• cabbage _________ loaf _________ dispatch ________• match _________ child _________ memory _________• scarf _________ mouse _________ wife _______• dress _________ • clay _________ corpse _________ nucleus _________• waitress _________ • remedy _________

Pronouns

• Definition and Gender• Personal• Case• Indefinite• Demonstrative• Interrogative• Possessive• Relative• Exercises

Definition and Gender

• Words that are used to substitute nouns in a sentence or paragraph are called Pronouns.• The English language has three different genders: masculine, feminine and neuter.• The pronouns he and him that are used to substitute male or masculine nouns have a

masculine gender.• The pronouns she and her that are used to substitute female or feminine nouns have a

feminine gender.• The pronoun it that is used to substitute things has a neuter gender.• The pronouns I, me, you, we and us can be either masculine or feminine while the

pronouns they and them can be masculine, feminine or Personal• Personal pronouns are those pronouns that stand for persons. If they are used to refer

only one person they have a singular number (I, me, he, she, him and her) but if they are used to refer to more than one person they have a plural gender (we, us, they ,them).

• Personal Pronouns• • First Person I First Person We• Singular Second Person You Plural Second Person You• Third Person He, She, It Third Person They

Case

• Pronouns, according to the function they do in a sentence, are divided in: • subject pronouns (when they are the subject of a sentence) or• object pronouns (when they are the object of a verb or a preposition).

Subject Object Pronouns Pronouns

First Person I Me• Singular Second Person You You Third Person He, She, It Him, Her, Itç First Person We Us• Plural Second Person You You Third Person They Them

• Examples:• I visited him.• He is tired of her.

Indefinite

• These pronouns can refer to persons or things. The endings one or body refer to people while the ending thing refer to things.

• Indefinite pronouns with the suffix some are generally used in affirmative sentences while those with the suffix any are used in negative and interrogative sentences.

• Indefinite pronouns with no are used in sentences with affirmative verbs.

• Examples:

• Somebody /Someone is knocking at the door.

• I didn't talk to anyone/anybody in the park.

• There was no one in the classroom.

Demonstrative

This These Singular Plural That Those

• This, that, these and those can be either a demonstrative adjective or a demonstrative pronoun. If they substitute a noun in a sentence they are pronouns, but if they modify a noun they are adjectives.

• Examples:• This book is new. (Adjective)• This is a new book. (Pronoun)• These dictionaries are good. (Adjective)• These are good dictionaries. (Pronoun)

Interrogative

who• For persons whom whose • For things what• • For persons and things which

• These interrogative pronouns have the same form for singular and plural.

• Examples:

• Who did you meet?• What are you doing?• Which/Who is my eldest pupil?

Possessive

Personal Possessive PossessivePronouns Adjectives Pronoun I my mineYou your your He his hisShe her hers It its itsWe our oursThey their theirs

• Examples:

• He teaches her son. (Possessive Adjective)• She teaches ours. (Possessive Pronoun)

Relative Nominative: who, that• For persons Accusative: whom, who, that Possessive: whose• Examples:

• The man who saw you is my brother. (Nominative)• The book that he brought was new. (Accusative)• The girl whose car is new is her daughter. (Possessive)

Nominative: which, that• For things Accusative: which, that Possessive: whose, of which• Examples:• The horse that won the contest. (Nominative)• The novel which he wrote. (Accusative)• The book whose cover is red. (Possessive)

Exercise• Fill in the blank with the appropriate pronoun from the list below. Some of them could be repeated.

– There were __________ books on sale in the shop.– __________ are the books Sarah brought yesterday night.– The manager _________ caught the thief in an office.– Jack recognized the man _________ stole the bank.– __________ of the students came with the new books.– It is dry because there was _________ rain this month.– __________ is the author of this mess in the kitchen?– He heard a voice but __________ was calling __________.– _________ gave ________ ________ in the park yesterday night.

(Liz) (John) (the keys)– _________ are the professors _________ wrote the book.– _________ didn’t want to buy ________ in the new shop?

(Rose)– _________ the car ________ is parked behind the red ________?– _________ is the house the Smith's built ___________.– The sofa _________ cover is red and green is the oldest.– There are nineteen students _________ don't bring so ________ money to buy the books.– Mary bought some tea but Rose didn't buy __________.– _________ is the owner of the new hotel in the beach? – Ted brought ________ the shirt ________ he made ___________.

(I) – Robert found a wallet in the library _________ is __________.

(Ann)– Jane and Carl came together. _________ with a present.

• List:himself who each that these whose him she them anything one themselves much me any

some anybody a little

Adjectives

• Definition and Classification• Comparison• One-syllable adjectives• Adjectives of two syllables • Adjectives of three or more syllables

Definition and Classification.

Words that go with nouns and tell us something about them are called Adjectives. They have only one form which is used with singular, plural, masculine and feminine nouns. They are usually placed before the nouns they modify.They are classified in different kinds:

Quality: round, bad, thin, clean, light, etc.Size: big, small, little, long, wide, etc.Age: young, old, new, etc.Origin: Indian, Italian, Cuban, American, etc.Type: medieval, tourist, seaside, cosmopolitan, etc.Demonstrative: this, that, these, those.Quantitative: some, many, any, much, few, etc.Interrogative: what, which, who, whose, etc.

Comparison

Positive: dark, tall, useful.• Degree of Comparative: darker, taller, more useful• Comparison • • Superlative: darkest, tallest, most useful.

• One-syllable adjectives • One-syllable adjectives form their comparative and superlative by adding er

or est to the positive degree.

• Examples:

• Positive Comparative Superlative• tall taller tallest• thin thinner thinnest

One-syllable adjectives

• One-syllable adjectives form their comparative and superlative by adding er or est to the positive degree.

• Examples:

• Positive Comparative Superlative tall taller tallest thin thinner thinnest

Adjectives of two syllables

• Adjectives of two syllables form the comparative and superlative following one of the previous rules.

• Adjectives ending in ful or re form the comparative and superlative with moºe and most.

• Adjectives ending in er, y or ly add er and est to form the comparative and superlative.

• • Examples:

• Positive Comparative Superlative • clever cleverer cleverest

careful more careful most careful

Adjectives of three or more syllables

• Adjectives of three or more syllable form their comparative and superlative by adding more or most to the positive degree.

• Examples:

• Positive Comparative Superlative• important more important most important convenient more convenient most convenient

• Adjectives of two syllables• Adjectives of two syllables form the comparative and superlative following one of the previous

rules.• Adjectives ending in ful or re form the comparative and superlative with more and most.• Adjectives ending in er, y or ly add er and est to form the comparative and superlative.• • Examples:

• Positive Comparative Superlative

• clever cleverer cleverest• careful more careful most careful

Exercise

• Fill in the blank with the appropriate comparative or superlative form of the adjective in parentheses.

– Robert is ______________ than Richard. (old)– Your new table is ______________ than my old desk. (thin)– This house is _______________ the one we had in San Francisco. (big)

– My novel is _______________ the novel he wrote last year. (bad)– Excelsior theater is _______________ the new theater. (far)– This appliance is _______________ the one we had before. (useful)– His bedroom is _______________ my parents bedroom. (obscure)– The monster of this film is _______________the one we saw in Stars War.

(ugly)– This Christmas he feels ______________ he felt last year. (happy)– This player is ___________________ the one they chose last year.

• (valuable)

– The furniture in this shop is _________________ in the shop near home. (expensive)

– Tom is _____________ in the Mathematics class. (clever)– John's lecture was _______________ Henry's. (important)

Adverbs

• Formation• Kinds• Exercises

Formation

• Some adverbs are formed by adding the suffix ly to an adjective.• Examples:• slow - slowly bad - badly clever – cleverly• Adjectives ending in ly have no adverb form.• Examples:• likely lonely friendly lovely lowly• There are some adverbs that have the same form as their

adjectives.• Examples:

• high low near far hard little early much fast late

Kinds

• Adverbs are divided into seven different kinds: • Manner• Place• Time • Adverbs • Frequency• Degree• Interrogative• Relative

Manner

• quickly, quietly, kindly, badly, bravely, hard, fast, slowly, silently, well, &c.

• They are used to express how something happens or the way

someone does the action.• They are usually located after the verb or after the direct object, if

there is one.• They must never be placed between a verb and its direct object.

• Examples:• She speaks English well.• They arrived silently.

Place

• Here, there, up, out, down, in, by, near, anywhere, somewhere, far, &c.

• These adverbs, like the ones of manner, are usually placed after the verbs, or after the direct object, if there is one. They tell where something or a person is, or is going. If there is an adverb of manner too, the adverb of place comes after it.

• Examples:

• They built the house there.

• We couldn't go anywhere.

Time

• Now, soon, yet, still, then, today, yesterday, &c.• These adverbs are placed either at the beginning or at the end of a clause

or a sentence and they tell us when an action is done.• Yet should be placed at the end of the sentence and still is placed before a

verb different than to be or after the verb to be.• Examples:• She came yesterday.• Then she went to work.• She hasn't finished yet.• She is still at work.

Frequency

• often, always, ever, never, usually, rarely, sometimes, seldom, once, twice, &c.

• They are placed after the simple tenses of the verb To Be and before the simple tenses of verbs different than the verb To Be.

• They are placed after the first auxiliary with verbal tenses that have more than one verb.

• Adverbs of frequency are often placed before the auxiliary when they are used in emphatic answers to questions.

• Examples:• She is always late to class.• The train rarely arrives on time.• They have never been abroad.

Degree

Almost, nearly, quite, just, barely, hardly, too, scarcely, very, rather, fairly, extremely, &c.

They can modify either an adjective or another adverb. These modifiers are placed before the words they modify.

The underlined ones can also modify verbs. They are placed before the main verb in simple tenses and after the auxiliary in tenses of more than one verb.

Examples:The soup is too hot.He knows her quite well.

Interrogative

• Why, what, when, where, how.• They are generally used in questions to ask the reason, the time,

the place or the way an action is performed.

• Examples:

• Why did he come so early?• When is he leaving?• Where do you study?• How long is this road?

Relative

• Why, when, where.• They are generally used to substitute a preposition and the relative

pronoun which.• Why• Why replaces for which and it is used for reasons.• Example:• The reason for which he left = The reason why he left.• When• When replaces in/on which and it is used for time.

• Example:• The day on which he comes = The day when he comes.• Where• Where replaces in which and it is used for place.

• Example:• The truck in which he moved = The truck where he moved.

Exercises

• Select the appropriate adverb from the list below. Some of them could be repeated.

– They did not go _____________ during their vacations in Rome.– They were playing ____________to win the game.– She was asking about the city ____________she went.– ____________ is the author of this mess?– The new student is ____________ asking questions.– He could ____________ answer a question of the test.– He could ____________walk after the accident.– They will open the exhibition ____________.– Have you ___________ been to New York?– I would like to know ___________ he left the country.– She ___________ finished her new novel.

• anywhere somewhere nowhere well bravely scarcely badly poorly where why when who what always rather very silently scarcely yet seldom soon hardly almost fairly clearly

• still often ever never almost rarely

• Put the words in the correct order to form a sentence.

• questions carefully. answer must You the• away didn’t when fly He the know would parrot• along was fast narrow driving old He road the• the walked slowly The along teacher hall• The the police and thief caught arrived suddenly• were silently night They during the working• was won She when she the fifteen barely medal• deceive is quite l woman to fool that He

• enough didn't to run the train They reach

Prepositions

• Introduction• Position• Time• Time and Date• Exercises

Introduction

• The main objective of this chapter is to study prepositions according to their use and the position they have in a sentence.

• Prepositions are some of the shortest words of the language, but sometimes the most difficult to use. They are generally found with a noun or pronoun to make a phrase.

• Prepositions are usually placed before their nouns or pronouns. • Examples:• For a month in London at sea without food to us with him• • When prepositions are used in defining relative clauses, with infinitives or with

interrogative pronouns they are often moved to the end of the sentence.• In defining relative clauses• Examples:• The girl to whom I gave the letter. The girl I gave the letter to.• The park in which I played. The park I played in.• With infinitives• Examples:• A classroom in which to teach. A classroom to teach in.• A park in which to play. A park to play in.• With interrogative pronouns• Examples:• To whom you are talking? Who are you talking to?• With what did you open the door? What did you open the door with?

Time

• Till and until are used for time but when from is omitted only till can be used.

• Examples:• We studied from six to / until ten.• We studied English till nine.• From can be used for place or time while since can only be used for time.• Examples:• He ran from 6 to 7.30 a.m.• She traveled from Rio to Havana.• She has been traveling since Monday morning.• For is used for a period of time while since is used when there is a definite

point of time where the action begins and it continues to the time of speaking.

• Examples:• for six years for a week for a month• She has been waiting since he left.• During is used with known periods of time or periods previously defined. It

is followed by the name of the period or by the, this, that or those.

Time and Date

• At is used when it refers to a specific time of the day or with a period of time that doesn't cover only one day.

• Examples:• At six o'clock at noon at night at Christmas• On is used when it refers to a day only. • Examples:• on Monday on July 23rd on Christmas Day• In is used when it refers to a period of time.• Examples:• in August in Summer in the morning in 1941

Place

• At is used with a small village, an address, a certain point as a bridge, a cross-road or a bus stop.

• In is used with a country, a town, a forest or any enclosed place.• There is a slight difference between at and in:• At means inside, outside or beside the place while in means inside

only.• Either at or in can be used with a building, an office, a public place,

a river or a sea.• In is used for location as explained before while into is used to

indicate entrance with a verb of motion.

• Examples:• They are in the kitchen.• They went into the bedroom.• She fell into the pool.

Exercises

• Write the appropriate preposition in the blanks. Some prepositions could be repeated.

A famous writer wrote a book title "His Life" but it was never published. One day when he was traveling Madrid Barcelona his car crashed another car a bridge and fell the river. A passer-by who saw the accident save the author's life because the writer didn't know how swim. As a prove his gratitude he invited the man dinner _____his home, and as he knew he owned his life the passer-by, he gave him a copy his book _____ pay his life "His Life".

• Write in each sentence the appropriate preposition from the list below. Some prepositions could be repeated.

– They studied hard ______7 p.m. ______ midnight.

– My cousins came to stay _____________ telling me.

– They have been living in Portland ___________ ten years.

– He traveled ______train ______Ottawa _______North Carolina.

– She visited her parents __________ her vacations.

– The ax flew ________ his hand and fell _________ the river.

– The thief entered _________ the broken window.

– Paul sang a new son ________ the evening concert.

– The noise _______ the motor was heard all _________the house.

– She studied English with him __________ Christmas.

– They waited ______ me ______ I returned.

– She was studying ______ home _______ he came.