Fundamentals of practical english grammar

- Verb + particle: cop-out, dropout, breakdown - Compound with men/ women: snowmen, airmen, spokesmen, chairmen - Phrase compounds: son-in-law; father-in-law Compound nouns which tell

Hanoi Open University

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Fundamentals of Practical English Grammar

HOÀNG TUYẾT MINH

NHÀ XUẤT BẢN GIÁO DỤC VIỆT NAM

PREFACE

As mentioned in the title, this book presents the fundamentals of practical English grammar English grammar is studied under two major aspects: morphology and syntax This book lays a greater emphasis on grammatical topics related to morphological issues, including parts of speech and main clauses used in English This book

is intended not only for students whose English is equivalent to intermediate level, but also for use of upgrading learners through a range of levels It can be useful for students attending classes or for someone working alone

The book consists of 15 units Each unit contains an explanation

of the grammar point, followed by a number of exercises It is very useful to glance at appendices and glossaries, which give further information and terminology explanation

The grammar session focuses on a morphologically grammatical topic such as meaning and formation, especially on the grammatical features and the usage of parts of speech or the properties of different clauses at different levels of difficulties

There are various ways for using this book If a learner knows that he/she may have difficulties with particular points of grammar, he/she can start with the relevant units

Grammar is a challenging field, and there will never be an rounded grammar book Although this book covers a wide range of topics, it is not an encyclopedia on grammar Again, this book only focuses on fundamentals of grammar The writer hopes this book will serve as a path leading the leaner through the field, and will be improved over the course of time with the visits of readers and their comments, which are surely received with gratitude

all-Contents Preface

III Uses of modals and similar expression to express ability/ possibility 142

IV Uses of modals and similar expression to express permission/prohibition144

V Uses of modals and similar expression to express certainty and

VII Uses of modals for offers, requests, and suggestions 151 VIII Uses of modals and similar expression to express advisability, duty/

IX Expressing preferences with would rather and would sooner 155

IV Importance of commas in relative clauses 167

V A relative clause replaced by an infinitive or a participle 167

III The causative have and the causative get to express passive meaning 174

* wrong sentence

UNIT 1 - INTRODUCTION

Objectives

• Introduce general concepts of morphology and syntax

• Present the elements of morphology and syntax in the sphere of its study

Prep

Interj

Conj

NP AdjP AdvP PreP

Simple Compound Complex

I MORPHOLOGY: the study and description of word-structure, and also the study

of word-formation

Classes of word (different parts of speech): noun, adjective, adverb, verb;

article, demonstrative, pronoun, preposition, interjection, conjunction

Different grammatical categories of different parts of speech

N: person, number, case and gender

Adj., Adv.: different degrees of comparison

V: tense, aspect, voice and mood

II SYNTAX: the study of the arrangement of words into larger units of language:

phrases, clauses and sentences

1 Phrase: a group of words, which is equivalent to a part of speech

Phrase structure: (Premodification) + Head + (Postmodification)

Kinds of phrases:

a beautiful girl in the street

more beautiful than I am

more slowly than I did

under the bridge

He is the best student in the class

Run away is what I could do then

My duty is to learn English

I enjoy listening to music

Asked a lot of questions, he was tired

She stayed at home jobless

If necessary, I’ll phone you

Functional classification: Main (superordinate/ independent) clauses and

subordinate clauses (dependent)

What I wanted to know is how to learn well

sub clause sub clause

main clause

- Nominal clauses: He believes that the devil likes angle cake

- Adjectival clauses: The lady who had two heads could not credit the proverb

which declared that two heads were better than one

- Adverbial clauses: He cried because he had spilt milk

3 Sentence: a group of words containing both subject and a finite verb to express

a complete thought

Sentence elements: Subject, Verb, Object, Complement and Adverbial (S, V,

O, C and A for short)

We all know these rules

- Declarative sentences:

He can swim very well

He isn’t coming tonight

What a beautiful house it is!

How beautiful the house is!

Structural classification: 3 kinds

- Simple sentences: sentences with only one finite clause: He ran away

- Compound sentences: sentences formed by two or more independent clauses

joined by and, but, or and others

I told him this but he didn’t believe me

She’ s a teacher and she’ s out of work

You can drive my car or you can walk

- Complex sentences: sentences joined by two or more clauses of which one is the

main clause and the other(s) - subordinate clause(s) being part (S, O, C or A) of the former

I know that you’re honest

What he likes isn’t what I like

Exercise 1 Underline the phrases in the following sentences

1 A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

2 Having seen three birds in the bush, he let the one in his hand fly away

3 The birds in the bush having been captured, Jojo found his hands full

4 He lived to snare birds and burn bushes

5 To part from friends is to die a little

Exercise 2 Underline all the subordinate clauses below, noting the function of

each

1 She knew where she was going and how she would get there

2 He ate when he was hungry and drank whenever he could

3 He had but a single purpose, which he concealed from everybody, including himself

4 Criminals who have status in their world frequently serve an apprenticeship in crime

5 While making hay, you ought to see whether the sun is shining

Exercise 3 Convert the following simple declarative sentences into compound

and complex sentences

1 Jack loves Jill Jill loves herself

2 The pound has a diminished value It no longer buys a pint of beer

3 Ideas have consequences The consequences are sometimes far-reaching

4 He reached for the moon He stubbed his toe

5 The American way of speaking and writing differs from the English way It is not therefore inferior

Exercise 4 Divide each of the sentences below into its constituent part, and

label each part S, V, O, C or A

1 Computers are fairly commonplace today

2 We have a computer here

3 Full-scale computers use a large number of programs

4 These programs have to be changed from time to time

5 A special period will need to be set aside for this operation

6 Thinking about this led us to an interesting conclusion

7 Someone having a dream could be performing a similar operation

8 Most people have had the experience of dreaming in a feverish state

9 Then the sleeper sees dreams as a jumbled sequence of unimportant detail

10 This jumbled sequence of detail keeps dancing in front of his eyes

UNIT 2 - NOUNS

Objectives

• Give students the definition, formation, main functions of nouns

• Present the classification of nouns, grammatical categories of nouns

I DEFINITION

Nouns can be defined as the 'names' of people (John, Peter), places (Hanoi, London), a job tittle (doctor), things (radio, table), quality (courage), an action (laughter/ laughing), etc

They are normally preceded by adjectives, possessive pronouns,

demonstratives… as his ability, this house, several people, my university, a disappointment, such happiness…

II FORMATION

1 Simple nouns: only one root word as a cat, a house, Paris, Mr John

2 Derived nouns: a root word goes with affixes (prefix or suffix)

non-government unhappiness inability deforestation dislikes impossibility irresponsibility ability

malnutrition misunderstanding reconstruction worker

appointment happiness organisation childhood

actor

3 Compound nouns

- Noun + noun: bath towel, boyfriend, death blow, schoolmaster

- Gerund + noun: dinning-room, writing-paper, boxing-match

- Verb + noun: pickpocket, breakfast, breakwater

- Noun + adverb: passer-by, runner-up

- Noun + verb: nosebleed, sunshine

- Adjective + noun: deep structure, fast-food, quick-silver

- Adjective + verb: whitewash

- Verb + verb: make-believe

- Particle + noun: in-crowd, downtown

- Adverb + noun: now generation

- Adverb + verb: overlook, outgrow, also-rans

- Verb + particle: cop-out, dropout, breakdown

- Compound with men/ women: snowmen, airmen, spokesmen, chairmen

- Phrase compounds: son-in-law; father-in-law

Compound nouns which tell us about materials and substances

- Names of materials and substances (leather- gold) are like adjectives when we use

them to form compound nouns:

a gold watch (*golden) - a watch made of gold

(a golden chance – a good chance)

Stress both words in spoken English: I can't afford a 'gold 'watch

Other compounds formed by both the form of noun or adjectival with a noun:

silver/silvery silk/ silky/ silken steel/ steely stone/ stony

We use them to mean 'like': a golden sunset (= a sunset like gold)

- Two important exceptions are wood and wool which have adjectival forms:

a wooden table - a table made of wood

a woollen dress - a dress made of wool

Exercise 1 Put a tick (√) if the second word is part of a compound noun

1 You need a pair of running shoes 5 This water is near boiling point

2 We sat besides a running stream 6 I need some boiling water

3 Put it in the frying pan 7 Where are my walking shoes?

4 I like the smell of frying sausages 8 Vera is a walking dictionary

Exercise 2 Make compound nouns or use adjectival forms

1 a raincoat made of plastic

2 a shirt made of silk

3 hair like silk

4 a table-top made of glass

5 eyes like glass

6 a wallet made of leather

7 a spoon made of stainless steel

8 nerves like steel

9 a pullover made of wool

10 a blouse made of cotton

11 a teapot made of silver

12 a voice like silver

13 a wall made of stone

14 silence like stone

15 a tile made of ceramic

16.a nailbrush made of nylon

17.a tongue like leather

18.a spoon made of wood

of Crete A young Greek, Kanellos Kanellopoulos, recently repeated this journey in (2 a machine that flies) called ‘Daedalus’ His (3 path of flight) was from Crete to Santorini, a distance of 119 kilometres, Kanellos, (4 a cyclist who is a champion) didn’t use wax and feathers, but (5 power from pedals) to drive his machine He was

in the (6 seat of the pilot) for 3 hours and 5 minutes His (7 machine made of carbon fibre) weighed 31 kilos and its wings measured 34 metres, Icarus, in the old story, flew too close to the sun The wax that held his wings melted, so he crashed into the sea Kanellos, however, kept 3 to 4 metres above the water and had a good (8 wind from the south)

He broke the record for human-powered flight previously set up by Bryan Allen, who ‘cycled’ 35.8 km across the English Channel

III FUNCTION

2 Direct object They are writing letters/a note

3 Indirect object Who sent Mrs Smith this letter?

4 Subject complement The letter is an invitation

5 Object complement He made the letter an invitation

6 Apposition to another noun (or noun

phrase)

The letter is for Mrs Smith, his mother

IV CLASSIFICATION

concrete: man, table

countable abstract: idea, difficulty

common uncountable concrete: iron, butter

abstract: music, luck

N collective police, cattle

1 Countable nouns include many so-called concrete nouns, i.e.:

- names for people and things which can be seen as individual, separate units: boy, leader, chair

- units of measurement: day, dollar, metre

- individual parts of an uncountable noun : bit, piece, portion

- but many abstract nouns also countable: arrival, discovery, failure, hour, joke, mind, quarrel, solution etc,

What we need are better solutions!

2 Uncountable nouns

Uncountable nouns include:

- many abstract nouns: happiness, importance, patience

- substances: gase, gold, hydrogen, wheat

- many verbal nouns: clothing, jogging, shopping, training

- most diseases: chicken-pox, malaria

But note that wedding(s), saving(s) = count nouns, and belongings, etc = plural only

Some common uncountable nouns: advice, ammunition, anger, assistance,

behaviour, bread, chaos, china, conduct, courage, dirt, education, employment, evidence, fun, furniture, harm, housework, information, knowledge, laughter, legislation, leisure, lightning, luck, luggage, machinery, money, moonlight, news, permission, photography, poetry, produce, progress, rubbish, safety, scenery, shopping, sunlight, thunder, transport, underwear, violence, weather

Nouns with both countable and uncountable usage

Many nouns are used as both countable and uncountable nouns, with various distinctions of usage

a chicken/ chicken an egg/ egg a ribbon/ ribbon

- When we use these as countable nouns, we refer to them as single items

- When we use them as uncountables, we refer to them as substances

countable (a single item) uncountable (substance/ material)

He ate a whole chicken!

I had a boiled egg for breakfast

I tied it up with a ribbon

Would you like some chicken?

There’s egg on your face

I bought a metre of ribbon

- Nouns as countable when we refer to a thing which is made of the materials:

I broke a glass this morning Glass is made from sand

What do the papers say? Paper is made from wood

Uncountable nouns used as countable nouns

- When we refer to particular varieties, the noun is preceded by an adjective:

a strong wine a wine of high quality a light oil

- When we use the uncountable noun in plural form: some awful wines, all weathers

- Nouns refer to something specific or general:

a good education – education system

make a noise – noise is a kind of pollution

Selected uncountable nouns and their countable equivalents

Some uncountables cannot be as countables to refer to a single item or example

A quite different word must be used:

uncountable equivalent countable

Partitives: nouns which refer to part of a whole

For other partitives see Appendix 1

So-called idioms (countable nouns as uncountable nouns) see Appendix 2

Exercise 4 Which one is countable and uncountable noun?

car grass person road chair bicycle

hand flour information butter sugar tree

Exercise 5 Choose the right word or phrase to fill in the blank

COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD: The new interactive bulletin-board channel tells TV viewers about local cultural events, entertainment, and weather Fill in the blanks in the bulletin-board message, choosing between the forms given

Community Bulletin Board for August 25,2000

Here is Community Bulletin Board for August 25,2000

(1 Rain/ a rain) Rain is in the forecast for this afternoon and early evening

Don’t worry, though, it will be light - not at all like the heavy (2 rains/ rain) _ which have been falling in the Midwest this week

Community Bulletin Board for August 25,2000

Poet Jellerson Saito will give (3 reading/a reading) _ of his poetry tonight in the Burlington Civic Center He describes his latest book of poems

as (4 work/ a work) in (5 progress/ a progress)

Community Bulletin Board for August 25,2000

On Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 at City Hall, Professor Helen Henderson, who has written (6 history/ a history) _ or the space program, will lead (7 talk/ a talk) on the exploration of (8 space/ a space) _ in the twenty-first century at (9 time/ a time) when we seem to be running out of funding for the space program

Community Bulletin Board for August 25,2000

If you haven’t made reservations for the annual Labor Day picnic, (10 a time/ time) is running short (11 Work/ A work) _ on the remodeling of Patton Pavilion, where the picnic will be held, is almost complete All residents of Burlington are of course invited, but you must have a ticket, which will cover the price of dinner The menu will include fish, meat, and pasta as possible main courses (12 Soda/ A soda) and (13 a milk/ milk) _ are complimentary Adult participants may purchase (14 wine/

a wine) , including Columbia Meriot, (15 a red wine/ red wine) _ produced in the eastern part of the state

Community Bulletin Board for August 25,2000

On Friday evening at 8:00 P.M in the Civic Auditoriurn, Professor Mary Alice Waters will present a program on the Xhosa, (16 indigenous people/ an indigenous people) _ of Southern Africa

Professor Waters will show (17 a film/ film) _ about marriage customs of Xhosa and other (18 people/ peoples) _ of the southern third of the African continent

Exercise 6 Read the following composition about genetic engineering Find and

correct the thirteen errors in the use of non-count and counts Some of the errors are made more than once

Genetic Engineering

People say we will soon be able to perform a genetic engineering I am against this for several reasons First, it is dangerous to tamper with the nature because we don’t know what will happen We could upset the balance of the nature For example, people are against the mosquito because it carries a malaria Suppose we change the DNA of the mosquito so that it will die off That will end a malaria, but it will upset the balance of the nature because certain other species eat mosquitoes and won’t be able to survive

Second, genetic engineering will take away a people’s control over their own lives Suppose scientists develop the capability to end violent behavior by eliminating a particular gene from future generations This may stop a violence, but this type of genetic engineering will make people behave as someone else has determined, not as they themselves have determined, and it will reduce a responsibility

Third, a genetic engineering will remove a chance from our lives Part of what makes life interesting is the unpredictability As far as I am concerned, we should leave a genetic engineering to the Creator

The staff have all gone for their lunch

Collective nouns include such common count nouns as: air force, army, cast, class, committee, company, couple, crew, crowd, family, firm, gang, government, group, herd, hospital, jury, majority, minority, navy, pair, the press

Exercise 7 Decide whether you should normally use a singular (S) or plural (P)

verb after these nouns In some cases both are possible

knowledge

4 series 9 crossroads 14 information 19 advice

Exercise 8 Match each of the twelve nouns with one of these collective nouns

Some of them can be used twice

flight bunch flock gang swarm shoal pack herd

2 Proper nouns

Features that often characterizes proper nouns are:

- unique reference

- either singular or plural (but not both)

- written with initial capital letters

- Personal names: John, Mrs Smith, Dr Brown, Uncle Henry

- Geographical names: London, Scotland, Mount Snowdon

- Religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam

- Days, months, festivals: January, Sunday, Christmas

- Names for streets, organisations etc., are usually a combination of proper noun

(or adj) and common noun: The British Council, Scotland Yard, Piccadilly Circus

- Family relationships (when used as names): Mother, Grandma But a young mother = common noun

- Common nouns when personified and given unique reference: Fate, Heaven, Liberty

- Magazines: Newsweek, Vogue

- Languages: English, Hindi

- Nationalities: an Englishman, the English

V GRAMMATICAL FEATURES

1 Number

Singular and plural forms of nouns

Nouns with plural in general - s cats, bags

Nouns with special plural

1 -o, -ss, -ch, -sh, -x, -s, -z - es glasses, watches, tomatoes, bushes

roofs, beliefs, handkerchiefs drawfs/ draves; hoofs/ hooves; scrafs/ scraves; wharfs/ wharves

4 internal vowel change man -> men; woman > women

goose > geese; tooth > teeth foot > feet; mouse > mice louse > lice

concertos, solos, pianos, sopranos Filipinos, Eskimos

8 Other special child -> children; person -> people

9 Some nouns that English has borrowed from other languages have foreign plurals

a criterion – criteria e bacterium – bacteria

phenomenon – phenomena

b cactus – cacti/ cactuses

stimulus – stimuli

syllabus – syllabi/ syllabuses

c formula – formulae/ formulas

medium – media memorandum– memoranda oasis – oases parenthesis – parentheses thesis – theses

f appendix – appendices/ appendixes index – indices/ indexes

Invariable nouns

- Nouns are singular only

uncountable nouns gold, cotton

abstract adjectival head the unreal, the true

most proper nouns Henry, Lisa

- Nouns are plurals only

Nouns without –s ending Possible corresponding singular unit

These cattle are valuable This cow is

There are three people waving at us A person/man/woman is

The police have arrived A policeman/policewoman has

There are vermin here There is a rat/ a flea/ a louse

Nouns ending in -s - things with 2 equal parts

Where are my glasses? They are on your nose

I need a new pair/ two pairs of glasses

also: binoculars, glasses, spectacles, compasses, scales, scissors, shears, tweezers, tongs, jeans, pants, pyjamas, shorts, tights, trousers

annals, arrears, belongings, clothes, congratulations, earings, fumes, oats, odds, outskirts, remains, suds, surroundings, thanks, valuables, winnings

Most of these words can take plural-related determiners, but not numerals: many/few clothes, but not *ten clothes

Exercise 9 Write the plurals

teacher garden door lady gentleman tooth restaurant house child secretary student bus

Exercise 10 Write the plurals of the words given in brackets to complete these

sentences

1 Would you bring the bottle of some _ glasses , please? (glass)

2 We cut the cake into _ (half)

3 We bought some _ to eat with our _ (tomato/ sandwich)

4 They caught several _ that afternoon (fish)

5 It was a shop selling _ and _ (stereo/ video)

6 Would you like some of these _? (potato)

7 We saw a cartoon about _ and _ (cat/ mouse)

8 All the _ had different coloured _ (house/ roof)

9 It was autumn, and the _ were falling (leaf)

10 Did you make these _? (handkerchief)

11 We use several _ for painting the _ (process/ car)

12 They have some _ and a few _ (chicken/ sheep)

13 They visited several _ that night (disco)

14 I’ve read her _ ,but I haven’t seen any of her (book/ play)

15 I bought some _ for the _ (shelf/ glass)

16 The _ came from several different _ (boy/ country)

17 I have heard strange _ about this place ( story)

18 They have a lot of _ at the moment (worry)

19 Would you bring the _ and _? (knife/ fork)

20 The _ chased the _ for several miles (wolf/ deer)

Exercise 11 Give the correct plural form of these nouns

2 piano 7 shampoo 12 potato 17 kangaroo

4 volcano 9 rodeo 14 studio 19 biro

5 motto 10 tomato 15 concerto 20 solo

21 leaf 26 child 31 hoof 36 sheep

22 goose 27 house 32 postman 37 life

2 Case

Uses and meanings of the genitive

Possession my aunt's spectacles

the Smiths' house the city's famous bridge

Subjective

genitive

Henry's treachery (Henry was treacherous.)

the plane's arrival (the plane arrived.) the President's death (the President died.) the lovers' quarrel (the lovers quarreled.)

Objective

genitive

Henry’s admirers (people admire Henry)

the President’s murder (someone murders the President)

Classifying a girl’s school is a school for girl

a day’s pay (pay for a day)

a stone’s throw (the distance a stone can be thrown)

a lover’s quarrel (that kind of argument)

Place – without

following nouns

St Paul’s, Guy’s (proper noun) the baker’s/ a grocer’s (shop) I’m going to my cousin’s (house)

Apostrophe + s or s + apostrophe

- Preferred (and sometimes essential) for people and animals when there is some meaning of possession:

Henry's age, the Smiths' house, the horse's hooves

- Used with some other names (mainly places):

New York's night life, London's West End, India's neighbours

But: the excitement of Christmas

- Used with common nouns, also identified with people:

the company's profits, the team's victory, the school's traditions,

the ship's captain

- Preferred for subjective genitive: (genitive as doer)

the Prime Minister's speech

Henry's phoning me was a great surprise (essential here)

- Essential (not-replaceable by of + noun) for classifying genitives and various

fixed expressions:

a girls' school, a dentist's drill, a day's work, a moment's thought,

today's weather, three weeks' pay, at arm's length, a stone's throw,

for heaven's sake, donkeys' years

- Essential in many local expressions of the type (Guy's): the butcher's

of + noun is preferred for:

- things (possession):

the end of the road, the top of the cupboard, the excitement of Christmas

- people and things

the defeat of Napoleon, the sale of the house

- subjective genitive when the noun phrase is (the + adj)

the needs of the sick and not *the sicks' needs

Double genitive

- For people, never for things, there is the so-called double genitive construction

- double because it has both genitive inflection and of:

a friend of Henry's/hers/theirs (one of Henry’s / her/ their friends)

some neighbours of my grandparents’ (some of my grandparents’ neighbours)

3 Gender

Masculine: actor, poet, author, god, host, lion (pronoun he/ they)

Feminine: actress, poetess, authoress, goddess, hostess, lioness (pronoun she/ they)

Neuter: inanimate things, animals whose sex we don’t know (pronoun it/

they): teacher, doctor, singer Exceptions: ships and sometimes babies and sometimes cars and other vehicles

when regarded with affection and respect are considered feminine Countries when referred to by name or also normally considered feminine:

The ship struck an iceberg, which tore a huge hole in her side

Scotland lost many of her bravest men in two great rebellions

Exercise 12 Supply a phrase with ‘s or a compound noun in place of the phrases

in italics

1 Where’s the key of the car? _

2 Where’s the surgery of the doctor? _

3 It’s the idea of the committee _

4 Don’t damage the nib of the pen _

5 It’s the keyboard of the computer _

6 I’ve cleaned the top of the desk _

7 It was in the reign of King John _

8 Do you like the poetry of Eliot? _

9 It’s the responsibility of no one _

10 Look at the handle of the suitcase _

11 Polish the knob of the front door _

12 The journey of Scott is historic _

13 Who stole the bicycle of the postman? _

14 Put out the stub of that cigarette _

15 We’ve got a new table in the kitchen _

16 Don’t pull the tail of the horse _

17 Please clean the switches of the lights _

18 I spoke to the secretary of the boss _

19 This is the new policy of the party _

20 The cover of the book is torn _

Exercise 13 Put in compound and ‘s and s’ constructions in this story

MIND YOUR SKIN!

We have become very conscious of conservation these days A lot of people won’t buy any goods made from (1 skins of animals) _ in many parts of the world, it is now unthinkable for a person to dress in(2 a coat made of the skin of a leopard) _ We realize that (3 the wildlife of the earth) _ _ needs protection This affects such things as (4 clothing worn by children) and (5 coats worn by ladies) If (6 a fur coat worn by an actress) attracts admiration these days, it is probably created

from man-made materials Of course, we still farm animals for their skins, but the notice I saw in a shop recently must have been (7 the revenge of the crocodiles) It was selling crocodile-skin bags and offering the following service: (8 skins of customers) made up!

UNIT 3 – ARTICLES

Objectives

• Introduce students to the definition, basic use of articles

• Give the classification in terms of its meaning of definite, indefinite and zero article

I INDEFINITE ARTICLE: a/ an

Basic use

1 a // in front of consonant sound: p, t, k, m, n, and with alphabet: B, C, D, G,

K, P, Q, T, U, V, W, Y, Z (H): a book, a T;

an /n/ in front of vowel sound: a, e, i, o, u and with alphabet: A, E, F, H, I, L, M,

N, O, R, S, X: an umbrella, an honest man, an F

2 A/ an has an indefinite meaning, (i.e the person, animal or thing referred to may

be not known to the listener or readers, so a/ an has the sense of any or I can’t tell you which, or it doesn’t matter which)

A/ an can combine only with a singular noun

Classification in terms of meaning

1 A/ an + a noun: referring to something / person in general (~ noun plural, zero

article)

A cat is a domestic animal

An architect is a person who designs buildings

(Cats are domestic animals.)

2 By means of label: a/ an + noun after the verb be

Andrew Bright is an architect

He is an English teacher

3 A/ an + adjective = noun to describe the people

She’s American = She’s an American

He’s conservative = He’s a conservative

4 Representative/ example/ typical or groups of class

A child needs love

(All) children need love

5 Referring to a “certain person”

A/ an + tiles (Mr, Mrs, Mrs) = a certain person whom I don’t know

A Mr Smith phoned you

A Mrs Patredcia was waiting for you

6 Quantity: a/ an = only one

- Not specifying any particular person or thing:

I’d like an apple (i.e only one; it doesn’t mater which)

when expressing this in the plural, we use some or any:

I’d like some apples/ I don’t want any apples

- Referring to “only one” :

I have a car

7 A/ an when something is mentioned for the first time

I looked up and saw a plane

There were a man and a woman in the garden

8 Difference between a/ an and one

- One when counting:

It was one coffee (one cup of coffee) we ordered, not two

- Not using one to mean any one (not specific):

A knife is no good You need a screwdriver to do the job properly

- One being often used with day, morning in story-telling:

One morning, he went to the church to find something interesting there

- A/ an and one being interchanged when referring to:

+ Whole number: a/ one hundred, thousand, million

+ Fractions: a/ one quarter, third, half

+ Money: a/ one pound/ dollar

+ Weight/ measure: a/ one pound/ kilo, foot/ metre

9 A/ an with reference to measurement: referring to one unit of measurement

in terms of another

To emphasize each, we use per instead of a/an:

+ Price in relation to weight: 80p a/ per kilo

+ Distance in relation to speed: 40 km an/ per hour

+ Distance/ fuel consumption: 30 miles a/ per gallon

+ Frequency/ time: twice a/per day

10 A/an after what and such

- A/ an used with countable nouns after What in exclamations:

What a surprise! What an interesting story!

- What a lot ! (not How much/ many !) used for exclamations:

What a lot of flowers! What a lot of trouble!

- A/ an used after such when we wish to emphasize degree:

That child is such a pest! My boss is such an idiot!

11 A/ an with pairs of nouns

a cup and saucer a hat and coat a knife and fork

12 A/ an with reference to illnesses/ conditions

- the indefinite article is compulsory:

to have a cold, a headache, a sore throat, a weak heart, a broken leg

- the indefinite article is optional:

to catch (a) cold

to have (a) backache/ stomach/ toothache

- with illnesses which are plural in form (measles, mumps, shingles) no article is

used

My children are in bed with mumps

- with illnesses which are defined as uncountable (flu, gout, hepatitis, ) no article

is used:

I was in bed with flu for ten days

Exercise 1 Insert a/an or one if necessary

1 of my friends advised me to take taxi; another said that there was quite good bus service

2 friend of mine lent me book by Meredith I've only more chapter to read Would you like loan of it afterwards?

No, thanks I read of his books few years ago and didn't like it Besides I have library book to finish If I don't take it back tomorrow I'll have to pay fine

3 man I met on the train told me rather unusual story

4 Most people like rest after hard day's work, but Tom seemed to have inexhaustible supply of energy

5 I've told you hundred times not to come into room with hat

on

6 It's unlucky to light three cigarettes with match

That's only superstition Only idiot believes in superstitions

7 He says caravan is no good; he needs cottage

8 plate is no good; we need dozen

9 Last time there was fog here plane crash-landed in field near the airport The crew had lucky escape man broke his leg; the

rest were unhurt

10 You've been great help to me; day I will repay you

11 My car broke down near bus stop There was man waiting for _ bus so I asked him for advice

12 He took quick look at my car and said, 'Buy new '

13 There was woman there The rest were men

There shouldn't have been even woman It was meant to be stag party

14 Don't tell soul! Not even your wife!

Of course not! I'd never tell secret to woman

15 Most of the staff had been there for only very short time, but man had been there year and half, so he knew little more than the rest

II DEFINITE ARTICLE: THE

Basic use

1 the // before consonant sound: the day, the key, the house, the way

the / i:/ before vowel sounds: the end, the hour, the inside, the ear, the eye

2 The has a definite reference (i.e the person or thing referred to is assumed to be

known to the speaker or reader)

The can combine with singular countable, plural countable, and uncountable nouns

(which are always singular)

Classification in terms of meaning

1 Making general statements

The cobra is dangerous (a certain class of snakes as distinct from other

classes, such as the grass snake)

Comparing with:

Cobras are dangerous (the whole class: all the creatures with the

characteristics of snakes called cobras)

A cobra is a very poisonous snake (a cobra as an example of a class of reptile

know as snake)

2 Expressing the groups as a whole

- the + nationality adjective: particularly those ending in -ch, -sh and –ese are used after the when referring to “the group as a whole”:

The British = the British people in general

The Japanese = the Japanese people in general

- the + plural names

+ Families: The Price sisters have opened a boutique

+ Races: The Europeans are a long way from political unity

+ Politics: The Liberals want electoral reform

- Titles beginning with the given to particular groups to emphasize their identity: the Beatles, the Jesuits

3 Specific group: the + collective nouns or plural countable: the police, the

public…

Many plural countables can be used in a collective sense in the same way when

particular groups are picked out from the rest of the human community: e.g the bosses, the unions

Getting the unions and the bosses to agree isn’t easy

4 Something mentioned for the second time

Singleton is a quiet village near Chichester The village has a popular of a

few hundred people

5 The - the modifier “of- phrase”: making clear the meaning of the noun; i,e., the

definite article the is needed The topics referred to (e.g freedom, life) are specified

by means of “the + noun + of”:

The freedom of the individual is worth lighting for

The life of Napoleon was very stormy

6 Specifying by means of clauses and phrases: we can specify a person, thing,

etc grammatically by means of the + clause or the + phrase:

The Smith you’re looking for no longer lives here

The letters on the shelf are for you

7 Specifying within a limited context: The can be used in context which are

limited enough for the listener or reader to identify who or what is referred to: Reference can be made to:

- People: Who’s at the door? - It’s the postman (= the usual postman)

- Place: Where’s Jenny? - She’s gone to the butcher’s (shop)

- She’s at the supermarket/ in the garden

(single identifiable place)

- Things: Pass me the salt, please

- Parts of whole: when we know what is being referred to (“the whole”) we can

use the to name its parts Assuming the listener or reader knows that we are talking

about:

+ a human being: the body, the brain, the head, the heart, the lungs, the mind,

the stomach, the veins

+ a room: the ceiling, the door, the floor

+ an object: the back/ the front, the centre, the inside/ the outside,

the top/ the bottom

+ a town: the shops, the street

+ an appliance: the on/off switch

8 In time expressions

- in time sequence: the beginning, the middle, the end, the first/ last, the next, the following day, the present, the past, the future

- with parts of the day: in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening

- with seasons: (the) spring/ summer, autumn, winter

- in dates (in spoken, but in written language):

I’ll see you on May 24 th (spoken as May the 24 th )

- in fixed time expressions: all the while, at the moment, for the time being, in the end

9 With unique items other than places names: (i.e where there is only one of a

kind)

- Institutions and organizations: the Boy Scouts, the United Nations

Compare items with zero: Congress, Parliament

- Historical events, etc.: the French Revolution, the Victorian age

- Ships: the Canberra, the Discovery, the Titanic

- Documents and official titles: the Great Charter, the Queen

- Political parties: the Conservative Party, the Labour Party

- Public bodies: the Army, the Government, the Police

- The press (The is part of the title): The Economist, The New Yorker, The Spectator, The Times

Note: the press, the radio, the television

Compare: What's on (the) television? What's on TV?

Items with zero: Life, Newsweek, Punch, Time

- Titles (books, films etc The is part of the title): The Odyssey, The Graduate Items with zero: Exiles, Jaws,

- Beliefs: the angels, the Furies, the gods, the saints

- Climate, etc: the climate, the temperature, the weather

- Species: the dinosaurs, the human race, the reptiles

Compare: Man developed earlier than people think

10 Other references with the

- with superlatives: It's the worst play I've ever seen

- with musical instruments: Tom plays the piano/the flute/ the violin

- fixed phrases with the the: the sooner the better

- fixed expressions: do the shopping, make the beds

Exercise 2 Insert a/ an or the if necessary

1 There was knock on door I opened it and found small dark man in blue overcoat and woolen cap

2 He said he was employee of gas company and had come to read meter

3 But I had suspicion that he wasn't speaking truth because meter readers usually wear peaked caps

4 However, I took him to meter, which is in dark corner under stairs ( meters are usually in _ dark comers under _ stairs)

5 I asked if he had torch; he said he disliked torches and always read meters by light of match

6 I remarked that if there was leak in gaspipe there might be explosion while he was reading meter

7 He said, 'As matter of fact, there was explosion in last house I visited; and Mr Smith, _ owner of _ house, was burnt in _ face.'

8 'Mr Smith was holding lighted match at time of explosion.'

9 To prevent possible repetition of this accident, I lent him torch

10 He switched on torch, read meter and wrote reading down on back of envelope

11 I said in surprise that meter readers usually put readings down in book

12 He said that he had had book but that it had been burnt in fire in Mr Smith's house

13 By this time I had come to conclusion that he wasn't genuine meter reader; and moment he left house I rang

police

14 Are John and Mary cousins?

No, they aren't cousins; they are brother and sister

15 fog was so thick that we couldn't see side of road We followed car in front of us and hoped that we were going right way

Exercise 3 Put in a, the or one only where necessary

HERE'S HEALTH "I think that's all, Mrs Grant," Dr Grey said as she handed her (1) list

of prescriptions (2) list was very long and Mrs Grant almost fainted as she tried to read it She had (3) headache and (4) cold and felt as if she was getting (5) flu On top of this, one of her children was in bed with (6) mumps "I've prescribed some pill for (7) high blood pressure as well," Dr Grant said "How much do I have to take - (8) pill (9) day?" "No One pill with each meal Three pills (10) day." Mrs Grant thanked (11) doctor and walked out of her surgery with some difficulty She staggered into the local chemist's and handed (12) long prescription list to

Mr Burt, (13) chemist Mr Burt greeted her cheerfully

"Good morning, Mrs Grant, he said, glancing at (14) list "What a list

I trust you're keeping well."

III THE ZERO ARTICLE

Basic use

plural countable  Girls do better than  boys at school

zero article () uncountable  Butter makes you fat

proper nouns  John lives in London

Abbreviations with zero, often acronyms (i e words made from the first letters of

other words), include:

- Organizations: NA TO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

- Chemical symbols: H 2 O (water)

- Acronyms which form 'real words':

BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code)

radar (Radio Detection And Ranging)

Classification in terms of meaning

1 The class as a whole: zero article + countable/ uncountable

- Zero article + plural countable nouns

People: Women are fighting for their rights

Places: Museums are closed on Mondays

Food: Beans contain a lot of fibre

Occupations: Doctors always support each other

Nationalities: Italians make delicious ice-cream

Animals: Cats do not like cold weather

Insects: Ants are found in all parts of the world

Plants: Trees don't grow in the Antarctic

Products: Watches have become very accurate

These can be modified by adjectives and other phrases: women all over the world, local museums, broad beans, quartz watches

- Zero article + uncountable nouns (always singular)

Food: Refined foods like sugar should be avoided

Drink: Water must be pure if it is to be drunk

Substances: Oil is essential for the manufacture of plastic

Collections: Money makes the world go round

Colors: Red is my favorite color

Activities (-ing): Smoking is bad for the health

Other activities: Business has been improving steadily this year

Sports, games: Football is played all over the world

Abstract: Life is short; art is long

Politics: Capitalism is a by-product of free enterprise

Philosophy: Determinism denies the existence of free will

Languages: English is a world language

These can be modified by adjectives and other phrases: purified water, oil from the North Sea, heavy smoking

2 Unique Items: zero article + proper nouns

- Zero article + names of people

First names: Elizabeth was my mother's name

Surnames: These tools are made by Jackson and Son

Full names: Elizabeth Brown works for this company

Initials: J Somers is the pseudonym of a famous author

Names can be modified by adjectives: young Elizabeth, old Frank Robinson, Frank Robinson Jr (= Junior, AmE), Tiny Tim

- Zero article + titles

Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Dr (full stops may be used optionally after the abbreviations Mr, Mrs and Dr)

Mr and Mrs are always followed by a surname or first name + surname (not

just a first name!):

Mr and Mrs Jackson are here to see you

Mr and Mrs cannot normally be used on their own as a form of address Miss

is also followed by a surname (Miss Jackson) but is used as a form of address by schoolchildren (Please Miss!)

3 Zero article for days, months, seasons and holidays

Mondays are always difficult Monday is always a difficult day

June is my favorite month Spring is a lovely season

Christmas is the time for family reunions

4 Zero article for artists and their work: The names of artists can represent their

work as a whole: Brahms, Keats, Leonardo, Lorca, Rembrandt

Bach gives me a lot of pleasure (i.e Bach's music)

Chaucer is very entertaining (i.e Chaucer's writing)

Adjectival combinations: early Beethoven, late Schubert, etc

5 Zero article for academic subjects and related topics: Art, Biology, Chemistry,

Geography, History, Physics, etc.:

According to Henry Ford, 'History is bunk'

English is a difficult language to learn well

Adjectival combinations: e.g Renaissance Art, American History

6 Combinations with the zero article

Zero article for times of the day and night: combinations are common with at, by, after and before:

at dawn/daybreak, at sunrise/sunset, at noon/midnight/ dusk/ night

by day/night

before morning

at/ by/ before/after 4 o'clock: We got up at dawn to climb to the summit

7 Zero article for meals in general: breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner, supper:

Dinner is served Michael's at lunch Let's have breakfast

Note that the is used when a meal is specified:

The breakfast I ordered still hasn't arrived

and a is used if the noun is specific:

That was a very nice dinner

8 Set combinations

Zero article for nouns like school, hospital:

- Referring to their 'primary purpose', that is the activity associated with them:

e.g He's in bed (for the purpose of sleeping):

university

work

Frequently combining with be in/at, have been/gone to:

He was sent to prison for four years

The children went to school early this morning

- Noun used with the when the item, etc is specified:

Your bag is under the bed There's a meeting at the school at 6

Words such as cathedral, factory, mosque, office, etc are always used with a or the

Zero article for transport

by air by bicycle by bike by boat by bus

by car by coach by land by plane by sea

by ship by train by tube on foot

We traveled all over Europe by bus

- By + noun is used in fixed expressions of this kind, but not where the means of

transport is specified:

I came here on the local bus You won't go far on that old bike

Zero article in fixed phrases:

out of hand, sight

hand in glove hand over fist hand to mouth

head over heels husband and wife man and boy

man and wife

- Verb + noun: lose face, make conversation, take part, talk shop, give way Zero article for 'pairs' joined by and

day and night father and son husband and wife

light and dark young and old pen and ink

sun and moon

This business has been run by father and son for 20 years

Have you ever read Peace and War

Zero article after what and such

The noun is stressed after What, and such is stressed before the noun:

- plural countable:

‘What fools they are!

We had ‘such problems getting through Customs!

- (singular) uncountable:

‘What freedom young people enjoy nowadays!

Young people enjoy ‘such freedom nowadays!

9 Zero article for unspecified quantity

Sometimes we do not use some or any to refer to indefinite number or amount:

I have presents for the children I have news for you

Are there presents for me too? Is there news for me too?

10 Deliberate omission of a/an and the

Newspaper headlines: HOTEL FIRE DISASTER

Nouns in the use of the zero article is very common in journalism (function as

apposition): e.g Film star Britt Ekland : War hero Douglas Bader ;

11 A/an, the, zero article () + nouns in apposition