A.
Nouns
There are
various types of nouns. Some nouns may fall under more than one type. This unit
takes up the following types of nouns:
1. Countable Nouns
2. Uncountable Nouns
1.
Countable Nouns
Countable
nouns can take the singular or plural form.
Singular
|
Plural
|
A cat
|
Cats
|
A man
|
Men
|
A tooth
|
Teeth
|
An egg
|
Eggs
|
An
elephant
|
Elephants
|
An axe
|
Axes
|
Examples:
There is a
man outside the building
There are
two men outside the building
An elephant
has a trunk
Elephants
have trunks
a.
Singular Nouns
When a noun
refers to one person or thing, it is singular.
Examples :
Ineed to buy a book.
STRATEGIES
1. Do NOT end singular
nouns with –s/-es
2. Use singular nouns
after the words below.
a/an, one, this, that, a single, another, each, every
a/an, one, this, that, a single, another, each, every
3. Singular countable
nouns usually need articles. Use the with
singular countable nouns when referring to things in general or to specific
things; use a/an with singular countable nouns when referring to general or
nonspesific things.
b.
Plural Nouns
When a noun
refers to more than one person or thing, it is plural. The plural form of most
nouns is made by adding –s/es to the singular form; however, there are some
exceptions.
Examples:
Five lectures from this university will attend the international conference in
San Francisco next week.
STRATEGIES
1. Do NOT use a/an with
plural nouns
2. Use plural after the
words below:
all, some, some (of the), a few (of), many (of), a lot of, lots of, various, these, those, every one of, each one of, each of, one of, one of, both, other, dozens of, hundreds of, thousands of, a number of, the number of, a couple of, several (of the)
all, some, some (of the), a few (of), many (of), a lot of, lots of, various, these, those, every one of, each one of, each of, one of, one of, both, other, dozens of, hundreds of, thousands of, a number of, the number of, a couple of, several (of the)
3. When words such as hundred, thousand, or million follow a
number, do NOT put them in plural form
4. Be careful of
irregular plural nouns
2.
Uncountable Nouns
Uncountablenouns
are nouns that have only one form and take a singular verb.
STRATEGIES
1. Do NOT us uncountable
nouns after the words/ phrases below
a/an, another, one, a sigle, each, every, these, thpse, a few (of), many (of), every one of, each one of, each (of), one of, both, dozens of, hundreds of, thousands of, a number of, the number of, a couple of, saveral (of the).
a/an, another, one, a sigle, each, every, these, thpse, a few (of), many (of), every one of, each one of, each (of), one of, both, dozens of, hundreds of, thousands of, a number of, the number of, a couple of, saveral (of the).
2. Use uncountable nouns
with the words below
much, little, a little, an amount of, all, some, a lot of, lots of, plenty of
much, little, a little, an amount of, all, some, a lot of, lots of, plenty of
3. Do NOT put
uncountable nouns into plural form
Verb forms
may be classified as follows:
Base form:
strat, think, draw, write, run, let.
Infinitive:
to strat, to think, to draw, to write, to draw, to write, to run, to let.
Gerund:
strating, thinking, drawing, writing, running, letting
Past
participle: started, thougt, drawn, written, run, let
Simple past
form: started, thought, drew, wrote, ran, let
Example:
The policie
artist will draw the criminal’s face.
He set aside
his salary to start his own business.
Strategies:
1. Use the base form after modals such as will, can, or may.
2. Use the infinitive form to show purpose.
3. Use the infinitive form after adjectives.
4. Use the gerund form after prepositions
5. Use the past participle after the forms of be ( be, being, am, is, are,
was, were, been) to express passive meaning, and after the forms of have (have,
has, had) to express active meaning.
6. The simple past form is used with particular time makers.
Relative pronouns and
adverb
Generally (but not always) pronouns stand for (pro + noun) or refer
to a noun, an individual or individuals or thing or things (the pronoun's
antecedent) whose identity is made clear earlier in the text. For instance, we
are bewildered by writers who claim something like
- They say that eating beef is bad for you.
They is a pronoun referring to someone, but who are they? Cows? whom do they
represent? Sloppy use of pronouns is unfair.
Not all pronouns will refer to an antecedent, however.
- Everyone here earns over a thousand dollars a day.
The word "everyone" has no antecedent.
The problem of agreement between a pronoun and its antecedent and between a
pronoun and its verb is treated in another section on Pronoun-Antecedent Consistency. The quizzes on
pronoun usage are also listed at the end of that section.
Relative pronouns are
all used in adjective/ relative clauses.
·
Who
or
that is used as a subject referring to a person.
·
Whom is used as an object referring to a
person.
·
Which
or
that is used as a subject or an object referring to a thing.
·
Whose
is
used to replace a possesive adjective.