English as second language
International business language
Countable and uncountable nouns
This section is about countable and uncoutable nouns ,and the quantifiers like much,many,some,both,all,enough which we use to describe them
When we talk about Suger quantity we means Mass of sugar.Though the heap of sugar contain many seperate sugar crystals,When we talk about sugar we talk about an amount of sugar,and not about numbers.That is why we say sugar is an uncountable noun.
Apples,Orange,and watermelon on other hand,are easily Counted and and so we talk about their number:How many oranges are there ? 🍊🍊🍊 .There are three oranges
| Noun | Countable | uncountable |
|---|---|---|
| sand | ✓ | |
| planet | ||
| Advice | ||
| Money | ||
| Bean | ||
| Coin | ||
| Information | ||
| Glass | ||
| Water | ||
| Person | ||
| Flour | ||
| Work | ||
| Book |
What differences between countable and uncountable
Countable nouns have a plural form but uncountable noun don't
Example of countable nouns
- One apple
- Two apples
Example of uncountable nouns
- Lump of sugar
- Two spoonfuls of sugar
We can use a or an before a countable nouns but not before uncountable nouns
For example
a bean,An apple but not sugar, sunlight
Countable and uncountable nouns and quantifiers
A quantifiers is a word or a number of words,that describes the quantity or number of something.When we say a lump of sugar,we described the amount 'a lump of Suger'we described the amount of sugar by saying 'a lump of'.We use words like much,more,and many, enough and too little,any or some and all and no to talk about amounts and numbers.These words are all quantifiers
- Quantifiers come before the noun or noun phrase they quantity
- Which quantifiers come before the noun or noun phrase they quantify.uncountable:for example.we say much money but many coins
- Some quantifier can be used with both types on nouns.They are : enough,more,some,alof /lots of,any ,all and no
- Some quantifiers can only be used with countable nouns:few/a few/fewer/many/each and every,both
- Other quantifiers can only be used with uncountable nouns:little/a little,less.It's really down to practice.The more you practice the more confident you will be at using quantifiers correctly
- One common mistake is to confuse less and fewer.We say :There are is less sand in the Nami b Desert than in the Sahara but there are fewer people at this concert than than there were last night
Pronouns
what is pronouns?
Pronounsare words that we use in place of noun
What are types of pronouns
There are three main types of pronoun these are:
- personal pronouns
- Relative pronoun
- possessive pronouns
Let us start with Personal pronouns
personal pronouns can be divided in two groups
- Personal Singular pronoun(he,she,it)
- Personal plural pronoun(you,we ,they)
Let us start discussing with singular pronouns
Personal Singular pronouns such as he,she and it.Each pronoun has spesific role .Let start with one by one .We start with She
How to use personal pronoun She
She ==>pronoun used in place of noun for Female gender of people
For example of female gender of people are the mother, grandmother,sisiter, daughter,girl,Mariam,Asha,Juliet and Ester and so on
How to replace pronoun from noun .See an Example below
- My grandmother is oldest women in the world Take away noun "Grandmother" then put She
- She is oldest woman in the world
- She is older than older
- She has 201 year old
- She likes to eat meat,fish snd vegetables She is still strong woman
Example 2
Asha is beautiful girl in the classroom Note "Asha" is proper noun.Now we change this noun into Pronoun.What pronoun fit for Asha?She
Example3
Helena is the first born in her family "Helena"is proper noun .Change this noun into pronoun'She' Take away helena in that sentence then add Pronoun 'She''She'is the first born in her family
Who is the first born in her family ?Helenahow to use pronoun 'He' in the sentence
'He' used in place of noun of the male gender of people .Example of noun of male gender people such as father , brother,Juma,Ally,Frank.husband and Clark and so onHow to change noun of male gender of people into pronoun?
For example1
Father drinks coffee every morning Take away "Father" noun in the sentence then add 'He'He is drinks coffee every morning
He is taller than his friends
He does body fitness exercise every morning
Example2
My freind name is JumaHe is Taller than me
He likes ice cream and chocolate
He is very lazy because of his body weight
How to use Personal pronoun "it"
We use "it" pronoun for Animals,Trees, insects ,water body ,ocean and all non living things nouns and sometime we use "it" without meaning any thing For example ,when we say 'it is raining,or it is hot
NotePersonal pronouns change depending on their position and function in the sentence
Example of Animals nouns are Dog,Cow,goat,lion and 🐖
For example
A lion is dangerous animal now in the Forest
"Lion " this is noun can be changed into it .It is dangerous animal in the forest
It runs faster than human being
It is powerful animal in the forest
It runs faster than humman being
It has sharp teeth compared to other animal
It likes to eat only meat
What the meaning of Verb
Verbs are words that show an action of the subject.Verbs are an important part of any language.The most basic part of any English sentence.
The are two main types of verb.These are
- Transitive verb
- Intransitive verb
Transitive verbs
These are verb that containing direct object such as noun and pronoun
For example
The kid play football
I going to buy car now
That really joking me
.Intransitive verb
These are verbs that not show object direct
For example
His dog died suddenly last night
Two boys were singing loudly
Also one verb can contain both types of verb (Transitive and intransitive) usesFor example
They are singing songs
They have been playing football evening
Also a transitive verb can have inderect object such as pronoun or noun phrase that comes before a direct object and indicate the person or thing that receives what is done
For example
Can you give me a pen
Who told her this information
Note
- The subject of every sentence must have a verb
- The verb has to agree with the subject (for example,I am but He is )
- A verb either tells us about an action the subject is performing (for example,She's singing) or about the condition or state(for example Our class is big)
- A verb and its tense tells us about the time of an event/action or condition.Often it also tell us if the event/action is short, happens often or carries on for longer time
Forming verbs
Verb endings depend on the number or person
- In the present tense ,verbs have different endings depending on the number or person used.For example,we say:I sing at the concert.He sings in the shower.We never sing together.
- Most verbs in simple preseny tense just get an -s ending for 3rd person singular nouns like man, woman,book and 3rd person singular pronoun he,she and it
- Depending on the verb,the 3rd person singular ending can change slightly.In verbs ending on an -o,we add-es for the 3rd person singular.For example I go to school.She goes to the theatre.We go to bed at end of this day
- In verbs ending on an -s,-sh,-ch,-z or -x, we also add -es for the 3rd person singular For example I watch TV.She watches the rugby matchWe watch the girls the put up tent
- In verbs ending on a consonant followed by -y,We change the -y to an i and add ed for the 3rd person singular.For example ,I worry about my exams a lof.He never worries but they worry like me
| verb | 1st person singular | 2nd person singular | 3rd person singular | 1st person plural | 2nd person plural | 3rd person plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| write | I write | You write | he/she/it writes | we write | you write | they write |
| do | I do | you do | he/she/it does | we do | you do | they do |
| kiss | I kiss | you kiss | he/she/it kisses | we kiss | you kiss | they kiss |
| carrt | I carry | you carry | he/she/it carries | We carry | you carry | they carry |
Two exception are the verbs to be and have
| verb | 1st person singular | 2nd person singular | 3rd person singular | 1st person plural | 2nd person plural | 3rd person plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| be | 1 am | you are | he/she/it is | we are | you are | they are |
| have | I have | you have | he/she/it has | we have | you have | they have |
Verbs and the negative
We've seen what happens when we talk about an action we perform.But how do we talk about an action that we do not perform?.We say I writ in my book, but I do not write on the wall
Negatives are formed by using do + person ending+not+the base verb
We can shorten (or vonntract) do not to dont.We shorten does not to doesn,t
| verb | 1st person singular | 2nd person singular | 3rd person singular | 1st person plural | 2nd person plural | 3rd person plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| write | I do not write/don't write | You don't write | he/she/it does not write/doesn't write | we don't write | you don't write | they don't write |
| do | I don't | you don't | he/she/it doesn't | we don't | you don't | they don't |
| kiss | I don't kiss | you don't kiss | he/she/it doesn't kiss | we don't kiss | you don't kiss | they don't kiss |
| verb | 1st person singular | 2nd person singular | 3rd person singular | 1st person plural | 2nd person plural | 3rd person plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I am not/I'm not | you are not | he/she/it is not/isn't | we are not /we aren't | you are not /you aren't | they are not /they aren't | |
| have | I have not/I haven't or I don't | you have not/you haven't /you don't have | he/she/it has not/hasn't or doesn't have | we have not/haven't/don't have | you have not/you have n't or you don't have | they have not/they haven't or they don't have |
Quiz
-
Write the correct form of the verb
- The man ____TV every day.I only_____on Sunday (watch)
- He ____watching TV but I______not______it(like)
- Mary____to school in town,we_______ to another school (go)
- I_____ my boyfriend;I wonder if he _____me?(me)
- We _______ in form 4;I_______one of three boys;my sister______in Form 2 (be)
- I have a bicycle.She has a scooter.We have a car.
- It rains here every day.Then the wind blows.We go out a lot
- Joe and Lana sing beautifully and he also speaks well
- I am the oldest girl in my family;my younger sister is 5 and my twin brothers are 3
- He wishes, he was in Form 4 like us
What is modal verbs?
Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that show a person's ability or intention to do something.The modal verbs we mostly use are can,will and must,as well as may. Example,we use can to show abiliy:I can read and write but my baby brother can't.We use will to show that we intend to do something:He will learn to drive
- Modal Verbs do not change their endings depending on the number or person,for example I can you can he/she,/it can ,we can ,you can ,they can
- Modal verb are used together with another verb,For example: I can+swim,he/she/it can swim,he/she/it can swim(singular)
- To form the negative ,we use the negative of the modal verb and add the base verb,for example.I can't dive,you can't dive,they can't dive,I will not/won't lie,..he will not /won't lie.
Quiz
Rewrite these sentence in the negative
- Daniel can come to the party.He will be late.We will have a good time
- He picks his sister up from school every day.He also collects firewood and does other chores
- We want to be late.We can afford to walk in late.The teacher will be pleased
4:Work with a partner.Play the negatives game.You tell your partner a store.Your partner has to repeat every sentence you say in the negative.Then swap roles
Noun- verb agreement
On page 4 you read that the verb has to agree with the subjectThe subject of sentence is the person or thing that does an action.
For example
- The girl speaks English,the subject.is the girl because she is the one who does the action of speaking English
- The subject of the sentence can be either be a noun(.or noun phrase like the big girl and her little dog)
- You can always check for the subject by asking questions like Who (or what)Speaks English?
Here are some simple rules for noun-verb agreement
- We check if the subject is 1st,2nd 3rd person singular or plural.you have learnt that with most present tense verbs,the 3rd person singular (he/she/it ) has a different ending to the verb for all other person.This Rule is the same for pronoun as for nouns
- We decide if the subject of the sentence is singular or plural.This is normally easy,but what do we do in cases like
Anita and Mei _____ to the market. .We say Anita goes to the market.and Mei goes to the market.Anita and Mei are two people.=>Anita and mei(they) go to the market.
Anita or Mei ____ here.We say Anita is her and Mei is here.The word or means that it either Anita or Mei but not both of them Therefore we say Anita or Mei is here
Neither Anita nor Mei_______to go(want).We say Neither Anita or Mei wants to go . Neither one of them wants to go
- Some subjects have two nouns,where one of noun is plural and the other is singular,
- We use the plural verb form Haji and his sisters want to learn Portuguese.They want learn it
- Because his sisters are mentioned last ,and becausehis sisters is plural subject,we also use the plural form want(not wants)
- When a sentence has two different pronouns,it sometimes becomes a bit tricky.. Normally we use the verb form for the pronoun last mentioned in the subject
- When we talk aboutva whole group of things or people, like:crowd of people or a herd of cattle ,We usually use the singular verb form
For example
Haji and his sisters_____to learn Portuguese.(want)
For example
Either Haji or his sisters wants to learn kiswahili
Neither Haji nor his sisters
Neither Haji nor his sister want to learn Dutch
For example
He or I know the answer.She or they go . Neither you nor I want to go
For example
There is a crowd of people at the part
The herd of zebra looks enormous
quiz
Rewrite the sentence using the right ver form- Jack and Dora____visitining Mahale Mountains National Park (be)
- Neither you nor I _______ to go there (want)
- Either Kwasi of Amri____, going e Safari (like)
- Neither Sabra nor her parents evere_____ away,(go)
- At the game paek,a crowd of people always_______ at the waterhole (collect)
- Herds of buffalo and other animals________into view (come)
- A flock of Egyptian geese_____by overhead (fly)
- Each of the tourists______ lotnof pictures (take)
- Non of them______much about. the anii.(know)