COUNTABLE AND NONCOUNTABLE NOUNS

 

SINGULAR PLURAL

COUNTABLE NOUN

a bookone book

bookssome bookstwo booksmany booksfew booksa few books

A count noun:(1). May be preceded by a or an in the singular,(2). Takes a final -s or –es in the plural

NONCOUNTABLE NOUN

moneysome moneya lot of moneymuch moneylittle moneya little money

A noncount noun:(1). Is not preceded by a or an;(2). Has no plural form; does not take a final –s

Following is a list of some common nouns which are usually or always used as noncount nouns:

 Advice weather clothing hail fruit**Information homeworkwater furniture work*Foods housework rain jewelryBread evidence snow luggageButter Intelligence wind machineryCheeseSlang ignorance airMoney Coffee vocabulary knowledgeDew Music meat significanceFog Postage milk funScenery pepper enjoyment courageHeat traffic rice happinessHonesty humidity transportation saltSadness luck lighting baggagesugar 

THE PLURAL OF NOUNS

Most nouns form the plural by adding -s or -es.

Singular Plural

a boat boats a hat hats a house houses a river rivers

Singular Plural

a cry cries a fly flies a nappy nappies A puppy puppiesa city cities a lady ladies a baby babies

A noun ending in -y preceded by a consonant makes the plural with -ies.

Singular Plural

woman women man men child children tooth teeth foot feet person people leaf leaves half halves knife knives wife wives life lives loaf loaves potato potatoes

There are some irregular formations for noun plurals. Some of the most common ones are listed below.

cactus cacti focus foci

fungus fungi nucleus nuclei syllabus syllabi/syllabuses analysis analyses

diagnosis diagnoses oasis oases

thesis theses crisis crises

phenomenon phenomena criterion criteria

datum data

Singular Plural

sheep sheep fish fish species species aircraft aircraft

Some nouns have the same form in the singular and the plural.

chair job experience information hair

luggage progress furniture permission workA) Fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the given nouns for the following exercise. Use each noun only one time.

1. I don't have much …. Just two small bags.

2. They are going to tell you all you want to know. They are going to give you a lot of .

3. There is room for everybody to sit down. There are a lot of .

4. We have no , not even a bed or a table.

5. 'What does Alan look like?' He's got a long beard and very short

.6. Carla's English is very bad. She must make .

7. George is unemployed. He's looking for a .

8. If you want to leave work early, you have to ask for .

9. I don't think Ann will get the job. She hasn't got enough .

10. Shakespeare’s are wonderful.

Chapter 18: Be going to + Infinitive

In English the Future Time is expressed in a number of ways. The most common are with will and be going to. See examples from the following sentences.

I will finish my homework in an hour. I'm going to finish my homework in an hour.

With be going to, make sure the verb be agrees with itssubject.

I'm going to eat a whole watermelon. She's going to eat a whole watermelon. Actually, we're going to eat a whole watermelon

together.

In speech, the words going to are often pronounced ? gonna .?

Don't forget the be verb. A: What are you gonna do this weekend? B: I'm gonna stay home and clean my

carpet. NOT: I gonna stay? NOT: I'm gonna to stay?

What's the difference between will and be going to?Both can be used interchangeably in some cases.

(Predictions and guesses)

My prints will be here tomorrow.My prints are going to be here tomorrow.

Be going to is preferable for strong intentions or for describing the inevitable.

I'm going to give her a piece of my mind.There's no way they can score 21 points in 2 minutes.

We're going to win!

Will is the preferable form for making offers or expressing pop decisions.

A: Who will help me finish this chocolate cake?

B: I will. A: I have two tickets left for the front row. B: I'll take them.

Sometimes future time can be expressed with either the present or present progressive tense. In such cases, time words must be expressed or clearly implied.

I fly to Beijing tomorrow. I'm flying to Beijing tomorrow. Sorry I can't attend the picnic on Saturday.

I'm flying to Beijing .

Gerunds are defined as the -ing form of a verb. They have several functions.

1. Used as subjects and complements Skiing is my favorite sport. Hiking can be very strenuous. Seeing is believing

2. Used as objects following prepositions and prepositional expressions

Thanks for tending my children. The job consists of typing, filing, and answering the phone.

3. Used as objects following certain verbs*. The children enjoyed watching the parade. Ms. Terrell avoided paying her taxes until it was too late.

Chapter 19: Gerund

Gerunds can sometimes take objects of their own:

Roland is afraid of making mistakes. Sandy is considering leaving New York.

admitbegindiscusshatelovepracticeregretstopavoiddeny

advisecan't helpdislikehesitatementionpreferremembersuggestgolikepostpone

anticipatecompleteenjoyimaginemindquitresentthreatenrecommendstartunderstand

appreciateconsiderfinishintendmissrecallresisttolerate

attemptdelayforgetkeepneglectrecollectrisktry

*The verb stop is followed by either a gerund or an infinitive, depending on meaning.

I stopped smoking (meaning “I no longer smoke”) He stopped to light his pipe (meaning”He stopped doing

something else in order to light his pipe”) **Notice that the verb phrase, can’t help (eaning “can’t

prevent” or can’t stop”) is used with gerund. His jokes are so funny that I can’t help laughing at them I couldn’t help overhearing your comment ***The verb go is followed by the –ing form of many

“activity verbs”: go shopping, go dancing, go skiing, go bowling and others

 

Modal auxiliary verbs are used to moderate the main verb, that is to enhance or restrict the verb to a certain context.

The most common modal auxiliaries in English are:

Can could may might should will would must

Chapter 21: Modals

Notice the usage of modals in the following sentences:

I pay my taxes. General declaration of fact. Paying taxes is

something I normally do.

I can pay my taxes.Expresses ability. I have the means (funds) to pay. I might pay my taxes.Expresses possibility, but not certainty. Maybe I will pay; maybe I

won't. I will pay my taxes.Expresses future intent. I resolve to do it at some later time. I should pay my taxes.Expresses mild obligation. It is required, and I expect to comply. I could pay my taxes.Expresses possibility. If I have nothing else to do with the money, I

might pay taxes. I would pay my taxes. (In this case), expresses reservation. If I had the money (but I

don't). . . I must pay my taxes.Expresses strong obligation. I am required and have to comply.

Modals are followed by only the base form of the verb and are not used alone unless there is a clear connection to a main verb.

He must to finish his homework. (I) He must finish his homework. (C) Jack could heard the bell. (I) Jack could hear the bell. (C) Penny will going to the movie. (I) Penny will go to the movie. (C)

TYPE 1 CONDITIONAL 1. Form

In a Type 1 conditional sentence, the tense in the 'if clause is the simple present, and the tense in the main clause is the simple future

Chapter 22: Conditional Sentences

'IF' CLAUSE (CONDITION)

MAIN CLAUSE (RESULT)

If + simple presentIf it rainsIf you don't hurry

Simple futureyou will get wetwe will miss the train.

2. FunctionIn these sentences, the time is the present or future and the situation is real. They refer to a possible condition and its probable result. They are based on facts, and they are used to make statements about the real world, and about particular situations. We often use such sentences to give warnings:

If you don't leave, I'll call the police. If you don't drop the gun, I'll shoot! Examples: If you drop that glass, it will break. Nobody will notice if you make a mistake. If I have time, I'll finish that letter. What will you do if you miss the plane?

NOTE: We can use modals to express the degree of certainty of the result:

If you drop that glass, it might break. I may finish that letter if I have time.

. TYPE 2 CONDITIONAL SENTENCES 1. Form In a Type 2 conditional sentence, the tense

in the 'if' clause is the simple past, and the tense in the main clause is the present conditional:

'IF' CLAUSE MAIN CLAUSE

If + simple pastIf it rainedIf you went to bed earlier

Present conditionalyou would get wetyou wouldn't be so tired

Present conditional, form The present conditional of any verb is

composed of two parts - the modal auxiliary would + the infinitive of the main verb (without 'to'.)

Subject would infinitive without to

She would learn

Affirmative I would go

Negative

I wouldn't ask

Interrogative

Would she come?

Interrogative negative

Wouldn't they accept?

In spoken English, would is contracted to 'd.

I'd We'd you'd you'd he'd, she'd they'd

The negative contraction = wouldn't. Example: to accept, Present conditional

Affirmative

Negative Interrogative

I would accept I wouldn't accept

Would I accept?

You would accept

You wouldn't accept

Would you accept?

He would accept

She wouldn't accept

Would he accept?

We would accept

We wouldn't accept

Would we accept?

You would accept

You wouldn't accept

Would you accept?

They would accept

They wouldn't accept

Would they accept?

2. FunctionIn these sentences, the time is now or any time, and the situation is unreal. They are not based on fact, and they refer to an unlikely or hypothetical condition and its probable result. The use of the past tense after 'if' indicates unreality. We can nearly always add a phrase starting with "but", that expresses the real situation:

If the weather wasn't so bad, we would go to the park (...but it is bad, so we can't go)

If I was the Queen of England, I would give everyone £100. (...but I'm not, so I won't)

Examples of use:1. To make a statement about something that is not real at present, but

is possible: I would visit her if I had time. (= I haven't got time but I might have

some time)2. To make a statement about a situation that is not real now and never

could be real: If I were you, I'd give up smoking (but I could never be you) Examples: a. If I was a plant, I would love the rain.

b. If you really loved me, you would buy me a diamond ring.c. If I knew where she lived, I would go and see her.d. You wouldn't need to read this if you understood English grammar.e. Would he go to the concert if I gave him a ticket?f. They wouldn't invite her if they didn't like herg. We would be able to buy a larger house if we had more money

NOTE: It is correct, and very common, to say "If I were" instead of "If I was".

Explanation1. The simple past tense is expressed with the

past form of the verb and nothing else. My grandfather died last year. (C)

My grandfather was died last year. (I)My grandfather has died last year. (I)

2. The simple past tense refers to a. action which occurred at a specific time in the

pastb. completed actionc. past status

Chapter 23: Past Tense

Specific past action I ate lunch at noon today.

He drove to work yesterday.

Completed action She finally mailed the letter.

Jan finished her report on time.

Past status John was still single in 1995.

Jane was a movie star.

Examples

Common problems with the past tense 1. Using the present tense when the past

tense is required. Last week, Tonya fix her neighbor's car. (I)

Last week, Tonya fixed her neighbor's car. (C)

2. Using "was" with verbs in the past tense.

It was happened one night in September. (I)It happened one night in September.(C)

1. Last night, Samantha have pizza for supper.

2. My pet lizard was died last month. 3. Yesterday I spend two hours cleaning my

living room. 4. This morning before coming to class, Jack

eats two bowls of cereal. 5. What was happened to your leg?

Correct the mistakes in the following sentences:

In English the Future Expression can also used to make some predictions

Form S + will + V1 S + will + be + Present Participle S + will + have + V3

Chapter 24: Making Predictions

I will finish my homework in an hour. My prints will be here tomorrow. In the future people will have bigger heads. I think she will be coming late to the class He will not be attending the seminar Mr. Andi will have taken his salary My mother will have prepared the meal.