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Noun is a word that is used to define a person, animal, place, thing, and
abstract idea. They are one of the first things that an ESL student learns.
Nouns can be categorized into 7 major groups:
Common Nouns
General nouns.
a cat a bowl a keyboard
Countable Nouns
Nouns that can be counted.
car - cars house - houses man - men
Uncountable Nouns
Nouns that can't be counted.
water wood air
Collective Nouns
Nouns that refer to a group of people or things.
a team a family a herd
Proper Nouns
Nouns that refer to a specific name of a person, company, product.
Mr. Jack Kushi Microsoft
Concrete Nouns
a noun that is a physical object, something that can be touched, seen.
a plane a animal a chair
Abstract nouns
Nouns that are not physical objects and can't be touched physically.
love jealousy hate
Present Perfect
Generally, the Present Perfect expresses the idea that an action happened
at an unspecified time. Because the concept of "unspecified time" can be
confusing, it's a great idea to learn the most common uses of PP.
1. An action or situation that started in the past and continues in the
present.
I have lived in the United States for 2 years.
She has been married since 1989.
Jake has been unemployed for 12 months.
I live in Paris. I have lived in Berlin too.
2. When the time period referred to has not finished.
Podolski has scored 2 goals so far.
THE MATCH STILL GOES ON.
I haven't used my car today.
3. A repeated action in an unspecified period between the past and now.
I have been to Europe a couple of times.
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I had worked hard when I was young, I wouldn't be a poor old man
now.
Second Conditional (If-clause) + Third Conditional (main clause)
Its most frequent use is with the phrase "If I were you", e.g.:
If I were you, I would have helped her when she needed help.
Passive Voice
We use passive voice when the focus of our sentence is on the action.
This voice is ideal if we don't know who (or what) is performing the
action, or think it is not important.
Example:
My wallet was stolen.
In the above example, we are focusing on the fact that the wallet was
stolen. We do not know who did it.
Form
Subject + correct form of to be+past participle
Active to Passive?
Mark told a funny story. active
A funny story was told by Mark. passive
If you want to change the sentence's voice from active to passive, do the
following:
Move the active sentence's object ("A funny story") into the sentence's
subject position.
Create a phrase with the active sentence's subject ("Mark") and the
preposition by.
Add a correct form of auxiliary verb be to the main verb, and change its
form to past participle.
In English sentences can be in the active and passive voice.
Active voice
You probably already know and use the active voice. It is the more
"natural" voice, and is used more often than the passive voice.
Examples:
I tell stories.
The city was invaded by the Danes in the 16th century.
In this voice, the object receives the action of the verb.
Passive voice
This is the less usual voice, used only in specific situations.
Examples:
Stories are told by me.
The Danes invaded the city in the 16th century.
Here, it is the subject that receives the action of the verb.
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Mixed Verbs
We have talked about Normal Verb and Non-Continuous Verbs. But there
is the third group. The group of Mixed Verbs is the smallest and most
interesting one. It contains those verbs whose meaning in non-continuous
forms is different than in continuous ones.
For example, let's take the verb see.
The non-continuous meaning of this verb is to understand:
Oh, I see what you mean.
Meanwhile, the continuous meaning is to visit:
I'm seeing the dentist tomorrow.
Interesting, isn't it?
More examples
Non-Continuous Meanings
think = "have an opinion" I think this is way too expensive.
taste = "have a taste" This cake tastes yummy!
feel = "have an opinion" She feels this is not right.
see = "understand" I see what you meant.
appear = "look like" This watch appears to be broken.
look = "seem" It looks pretty tasty!
Continuous Meanings
think = "use the brain" Please, don't disturb I'm thinking hard about
something.
taste = "use the mouth" Let me taste the soup.
feel = "feel physically" I'm not feeling well today.
see = "visit" Mike is seeing a doctor this morning.
appear = "be on stage / perform" David Copperfield is performing at
the Globe tonight.
look = "stare at" When she entered the room, everone was looking at
her.
The group of Non-Continuous Verbs contains those verbs which are
rarely or never used in continuous tenses.
For example, let's the verbhate.We can not say:
I'm hating you.
But we can say:
I hate you.
Well, that might not have been the best verb to use... :-)
Anyway, the Non-Continuous Verbs can be divided into several
categories.
Mental and Emotional Verbs Communication Verbs Abstract Verbs
believe
agree
be
dislike
astonish
want
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Sense Verbs
appear
hear
doubt
imagine
know
like
love
hate
prefer
realize
recognize
remember
suppose
understand
want
wish
deny
disagree
impress
mean
please
promise
satisfy
surprise
cost
seem
need
care
contain
owe
exist
Phrase
A group of two or more grammatically-linked words without a subject or
predicate. The words in bold in each of the following examples make up a
phrase:
I went to a shop and bought some meat.
They met in park during a hot sunny day.
Terrible mistakes were committed while this operation.
Clause
A group of grammatically-linked words with a subject and predicate.
I wake up early every morning to go to work.
The thief stole most of the jewelry
Pronoun
A pronoun is a word that is used to replace a noun. The most common are
the personal pronouns in the subjective form: I, you, he, she, it, we, they.
We will lose this match.
He and his brother work together.
She is beautiful.
Possessive pronouns
Possessive pronouns are used to indicate possession. For example:
His car is dirty.
I love my daughters.
This watch is mine.
Objective pronouns
Examples of objective pronouns are:
I gave you my wallet yesterday.
Our team disappointed us.
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see
seem
smell
sound
taste
However, there are exceptions. E.g. the adjectives hard or fast don't take
any endings as adverbs.
He works hardly.
He works hard.
She walks very fastly.
She walks very fast.
Position
Adverbs can have three different positions in a sentence.
Front
Now let's go to the park.
Middle
We sometimes go to the park.
End
We go to the park happily.
Modal verbs
1. can
Use
Examples
ability to do sth. in the present (substitute form: to be able to)
I can speak English.
permission to do sth. in the present (substitute form: to be allowed to)
Can I go to the cinema?
request
Can you wait a moment, please?
offer
I can lend you my car till tomorrow.
suggestion
Can we visit Grandma at the weekend?
possibility
It can get very hot in Arizona.
2. could
Use
Examples
ability to do sth. in the past (substitute form: to be able to)
I could speak English.
permission to do sth. in the past (substitute form: to be allowed to)
I could go to the cinema.
polite question *
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Use
Examples
wish, request, demand, order (less polite than would)
Will you please shut the door?
prediction, assumption
I think it will rain on Friday.
promise
I will stop smoking.
spontaneous decision
Can somebody drive me to the station? - I will.
habits
She's strange, she'll sit for hours without talking.
12. would
Use
Examples
wish, request (more polite than will)
Would you shut the door, please?
habits in the past
Sometimes he would bring me some flowers.
Conditional sentences
Conditional sentences are sometimes confusing for learners of English as
a second language.
Watch out:
Which type of conditional sentences is it?
Where is the if-clause (e.g. at the beginning or at the end of the
conditional sentence)?
There are three types of conditional sentences.
type
condition
II
III
1. Form
type
if-clause
main clause
Simple Present
II
Simple Past
would + infinitive *
III
Past Perfect
if clause
main clause
If I study,
II
If I studied,
III
If I had studied,
main clause
if-clause
if I study.
II
if I studied.
III
if I had studied.
I dont know when I can omit the word that. I looked for the word
that in the index of my grammar book. I found it in different chapters.
Case ( A ) : Object of a verb:
The man (that) I saw told me to come back today.
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In the above examples, the infinitive is italicized and the infinitive phrase
is underlined.
Clause is a part of a sentence. Some sentences have two or more clauses:
Jim hurt his arm playing tennis.
Playing tennis - ing clause Jim hurt himself - main clause
Feeling tired, I went to bed early.
Feeling tired - ing clause I went to bed early - main clause
"Playing tennis" and "feeling tired" are -ing clauses.
If the -ing clause is first (as in the second example), we write a comma (,)
between the clauses.
When two things happen at the same time, you can use -ing for one of the
verbs. The main clauseusually comes first:
I've just seen Carol. She's in the bar having a drink. (= she is in the bar
and she is havinga drink) A man ran out of the house shouting. (= he ran
out of the house and he was shouting) Do something! Don't just stand
there doing nothing!
We also use -ing when one action happens during another action. We use
-ing for the longeraction. The longer action is the second part of the
sentence:
Jim hurt his arm playing tennis. (= while he was playing)
Did you cut yourself shaving? (= while you were shaving)You can also
use -ing after while or when:
Jim hurt his arm while playing tennis. Be careful when crossing the
road. (= when you are crossing)
When one action happens before another action, we use having (done) for
the first action:
Having found a hotel, we looked for somewhere to have dinner.
Having finished her work, she went home.You can also say after -ing:
After finishing her work, she went home.
If one short action follows another short action, you can use the simple
-ing form (doing insteadof having done) for the first action:
Taking a key out of his pocket, he opened the door.
These structures are used more in written English than in spoken English.
You can use an -ing clause to explain something or to say why somebody
does something. The-ing clause usually comes first:
Having already seen the film twice, I didn't want to go to the cinema. (=
because I hadalready seen it twice) Feeling tired, I went to bed early. (=
because I felt tired) Being unemployed, he hasn't got much money. (=
because he is unemployed) Not having a car, she finds it difficult to get
around. (= because she doesn't have a car)
These structures are used more in written English than in spoken English.
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In English we express desire and regret in different ways, and the two
most common methods of doing this are in the "would" and wish forms.
The former, "would", is often used in conjunction with words such as
"like" and "love", while "wish" is used with a variety of words.
Would
Would you like something to eat or drink?
Yes please, I would love a glass of milk, if you have any.
For once, I would like to go to the cinema without having to sit behind
a really tall person.
I would love to be able to go to sleep, but I have to finish this essay by
tomorrow.
I want to go the theatre this weekend, but Im too busy.
Wish
The wish clause looks different depending on what time we're refering to.
a) When we refer to the present, past form of a verb is used.
Im shorter than I want to be. I wish I were/was taller.
I wish I werent/wasnt so lazy; then I would have done this work long
ago.
It is too cold in New York. I wish it werent / wasnt so cold.
b) When we regret events in the past.
I wish I had told him how much I loved him.
I wish I were/was able to take you to the zoo, but I have to wash my
car.
Im tired, but I need to be at work in an hour. I wish I didnt have to go
to work.
c) When we want to express a desire for future events, we may use "wish"
along with "would", as the first example demonstrates:
We came to the mountains to ski, and there is no snow. I wish it would
snow.
My brother and sister are fighting over the computer. I wish they would
come to an agreement.
I cant get to sleep because my brother keeps snoring. I wish he would
stop.
Im sitting in a boring English class and I want it to stop. I wish it
would end.
In wish clauses, most verbs can go alongside "would". However, there are
two important verbs which do not: "to be" and "to have".
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Relative pronouns
Person
Thing
a) Subject who
which
b) Object who/whom
which
Place
where
c) Possessive whose
In both types of the relative clauses we use relative pronouns.
Let's analyze each row:
Subject
Mike, who/that likes sailing, [...]
"MIKE" IS A PERSON.
There are many pets which/that are sensitive when their feet are
touched.
"PET" IS A THING.
Object
who/whom, which and wherecan be used.
That's the man who / whom / that I saw on TV.
"THE MAN" IS A PERSON.
That's the cat which / that I saw on TV.
"THE CAT" IS A THING.
Los Angeles, where I was born, will host [...]
"LOS ANGELES" IS A PLACE.
Remember: whom is used in formal writing.
Possessive
To show possession whose is used.
That's the man whose car was stolen.
"THE MAN" IS A PERSON.
Relative Defining Clauses
People who stutter usually have more difficulty controlling their speech
on the telephone
Most countries which produce and export oil are member of OPEC.
The man who I told you about the other day is here.
The information in these clauses is essential. It tells us details that are
necessary for the sentence to be logically and grammatically correct.
Defining relative clauses are never separated from the rest of the sentence
by commas.
Relative Non-Defining Clauses
Our English teacher, who graduated from Stanford in 1960, didn't know
the answer either.
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After a long day at school and work, LaShae found her roommate Ben
eating the last of the leftover pizza.
Eating the last of the leftover pizza = present participle phrase describing
the noun Ben.
Ben's rudest habit is eating the last of the leftover pizza.
Eating the last of the leftover pizza = gerund phrase, the subject
complement of the linking verb is.
Punctuate a participle phrase correctly.
When a participle phrase introduces a main clause, separate the two
sentence components with a comma. The pattern looks like this:
Participle Phrase+ , + Main Clause.
Read this example:
Glazed with barbecue sauce, the rack of ribs lay nestled next to a pile of
sweet coleslaw.
When a participle phrase concludes a main clause and is describing the
word right in front of it, you need no punctuation to connect the two
sentence parts. The pattern looks like this:
Main Clause + + Participle Phrase.
Check out this example:
Mariah risked petting the pit bull wagging its stub tail.
But when a participle phrase concludes a main clause and modifies a
word farther up in the sentence, you will need a comma. The pattern
looks like this:
Main Clause+ , + Participle Phrase.
Check out this example:
Cooper enjoyed dinner at Audrey's house, agreeing to a large slice of
cherry pie even though he was full to the point of bursting.
Don't misplace or dangle your participle phrases.
Participle phrases are the most common modifier to misplace or dangle.
In clear, logical sentences, you will find modifiers right next to the words
they describe.
Shouting with happiness, William celebrated his chance to interview at
SunTrust.
Notice that the participle phrase sits right in front of William, the one
doing the shouting.
If too much distance separates a modifier and its target, the modifier is
misplaced.
Draped neatly on a hanger, William borrowed Grandpa's old suit to wear
to the interview.
The suit, not William, is on the hanger! The modifier must come closer to
the word it is meant to describe:
For the interview, William borrowed Grandpa's old suit, which was
draped neatly on a hanger.
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