GRAMMAR

JANUARY:

18TH-DECEMBER-2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghOQvAi3ZtQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_zdBCAubLU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxE3lb0gJlw

IMPORTANT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_lrUe7sAAc

22-October-2017

6th OCTOBER-2017

See the sentences below for an illustration of this common error:

ERROR: His cat is more large than my dog.

His cat is larger than my dog.

These simple rules make it easy to tell when you should add -er or -ier and when you should use “more + adjective.”

Here are a few more examples:

This house is more exciting than ever.

ERROR: This house is excitinger than ever.

Mike is funnier than Isaac.

ERROR: Mike is more funny than Isaac.

Notice the spelling change for adjectives ending in ‑y: the comparative ends in ‑ier.

ERROR: This book is boringer than the last one.

This book is more boring than the last one.

ERROR: Advertising pressures women to be more thin.

Advertising pressures women to be thinner.

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2ND October-Monday-2017
English Grammar: There Is, There Are, Some, Any

Using "some"

With plural countable nouns we can either give the quantity (“five people”) or use “some” if we don't know the exact quantity.

“There are five people in the office.” (We can see five people exactly)

“There are some people in the office.” (We don't know exactly how many people)

With uncountable nouns we also use “some”.

“There's some milk in the fridge,” (I don't know the exact quantity.)

“There's some money in my wallet.” (I don't know exactly how much money.)

Remember: with singular countable nouns we use a/an, the, or another determiner or pronoun – not “some”.

“There's a woman in the shop.”

“
There's the woman who works in the hospital.”
“There's my sister in the photo.”

Negative form and using "any"

There are two ways to form the negative.
1. Add not or n't to the end of the verb. See our page on the verb to be for more information on forming negatives and questions.
"There isn't a freezer in the kitchen." (singular, countable noun)
"There isn't any money in my wallet." (uncountable noun)
"There aren't any students" in the classroom. (plural noun)

For uncountable nouns, use “any” after the negative “isn't”, and for plural countable nouns use “any” after “aren't”.
Remember: Do not use "any" with singular countable nouns.
"There isn't a single biscuit left in the packet." (Not "There isn't any single biscuit left in the packet.")

2. Use "no" after "there is" or "there are".
"There is no freezer in the kitchen." (singular countable noun)
"There are no students in the classroom." (plural noun)
"There's no coffee left." (uncountable noun)
However, it's more common to use "isn't + a" for singular countable nouns, "isnt + any" for countable nouns and "aren't + any" for plural nouns.
If you need more help with English grammar, see our page on some and any for more information.

Question form

To make a question, change the word order from subject-verb to verb-subject:
There is a + singular noun = Is there a + singular noun?
There is some + uncountable noun = Is there any + uncountable noun?
There are some + plural noun = Are there any + uncountable noun?
"Is there a toilet on this train?"
"Is there any time to go shopping?"
"Are there any trains to London this morning?"
Short answer form
Yes, there is. / No there isn't.
Yes there are. / No there aren't.
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Grammar: PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Personal pronouns represent specific people or things. We use them depending on:

• number: singular (eg: I) or plural (eg: we)
• person: 1st person (eg: I), 2nd person (eg: you) or 3rd person (eg: he)
• gender: male (eg: he), female (eg: she) or neuter (eg: it)
• case: subject (eg: we) or object (eg: us)

We use personal pronouns in place of the person or people that we are talking about. My name is Josef but when I am talking about myself I almost always use "I" or "me", not "Josef". When I am talking direct to you, I almost always use "you", not your name. When I am talking about another person, say John, I may start with "John" but then use "he" or "him". And so on.
Here are the personal pronouns, followed by some example sentences:

number	person	gender
			subject
singular	1st	male/ female	I
	2nd	male/ female	you
	3rd	male	he
		female	she
		neuter	it
plural	1st	male/ female	we
	2nd	male/ female	you
	3rd	male/ female/ neuter	they

When we are talking about a single thing, we almost always use it. However, there are a few exceptions. We may sometimes refer to an animal as he/him or she/her, especially if the animal is domesticated or a pet. Ships (and some other vessels or vehicles) as well as some countries are often treated as female and referred to as she/her. Here are some examples:

• This is our dog Rusty. He's an Alsatian.
• The Titanic was a great ship but she sank on her first voyage.
• My first car was a Mini and I treated her like my wife.
• Thailand has now opened her border with Cambodia.

For a single person, sometimes we don't know whether to use he or she. There are several solutions to this:

• If a teacher needs help, he or she should see the principal.
• If a teacher needs help, he should see the principal.
• If a teacher needs help, they should see the principal.

We often use it to introduce a remark:

• It is nice to have a holiday sometimes.
• It is important to dress well.
• It's difficult to find a job.
• Is it normal to see them together?
• It didn't take long to walk here.

We also often use it to talk about the weather, temperature, time and distance:

• It's raining.
• It will probably be hot tomorrow.
• Is it nine o'clock yet?
• It's 50 kilometres from here to Cambridge.

24/09/2017
There is and There are

We use there is and there are to say that something exists.

Positive Sentences

We use there is for singular and there are for plural.

• There is one table in the classroom.
• There are three chairs in the classroom.
• There is a spider in the bath.
• There are many people at the bus stop.

We also use There is with uncountable nouns:

• There is milk in the fridge.
• There is some sugar on the table.
• There is ice cream on your shirt.

Contractions

The contraction of there is is there's.

• There's a good song on the radio.
• There's only one chocolate left in the box.

You cannot contract there are.

• There are nine cats on the roof.
• There are only five weeks until my birthday.

Negative Form

The negative is formed by putting not after is or are:

• There is not a horse in the field.
• There are not eight children in the school.
• There is not a tree in the garden.
• There are not two elephants in the zoo.

We almost always use contractions when speaking.
The Negative contractions are:

• There's not = There isn't
• There are not = There aren't

There aren't with ANY

When we want to indicate that a zero quantity of something exists we use there aren't any.

• There aren't any people at the party.
• There aren't any trees in my street.

We also use this structure with uncountable nouns:

• There isn't any water in the swimming pool.
• There isn't any sugar in my coffee.

Questions

To form a question we place is / are in front of there.
Again we use any with plural questions or those which use uncountable nouns.
We also use there is / are in short answers.

• Is there a dog in the supermarket? - No, there isn't.
• Are there any dogs in the park? - Yes, there are.
• Is there a security guard in the shop? - Yes, there is.
• Are there any polar bears in Antarctica? - No, there aren't.
• Is there any ice-cream in the freezer? - Yes, there is.

How Many with Are There

If we want to find out the number of objects that exist we use How many in the following form:
How many + plural noun + are there (+ complement).

• How many dogs are there in the park?
• How many students are there in your class?
• How many countries are there in South America?
• How many Star Wars films are there?